Wings of Fire: Salvation
by DonHp
Summary: Prepare for an adventure unlike any other, as you follow Hidden and Co. on a wild journey through the Wings of Fire multiverse! From gritty sci-fi worlds to cursed sitcoms, this rag tag ensemble will have to find their way home, all the while facing the boundless mysteries that lie ahead. A multiverse of possibilities awaits, in Wings of Fire: Salvation!
1. Chapter 1: A SandWing Named Hidden

**Forward:**

**I've started rewriting this story from the ground up. I've removed the small inserts between chapters to help streamline the story, and plan on spending more time on character and setting development. Basically, the old story was a rushed and I'm making it better. I'll hopefully fix or remove some weird plot points from before as well. Please leave a review if your have any suggestions for improvements or questions about the characters/settings/story! Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 1: A SandWing Named Hidden**

* * *

**Southern Coast of Pyrrhia**

**Near JSI**

**2020 AD**

Waves crashed against the chalk white cliffs bordering the southern coast of Pyrrhia. A young SandWing, about seventeen years old, stood on the patchy grass gazing out at the torrential storm approaching the continent. He watched as it threw the ocean waves against the jagged rocks scattered about, and felt the short blades of grass flicking his scales as they tumbled in the wind.

The SandWing himself was nothing remarkable. About average size for a seventeen year old, with bright yellow scales and a pale yellow underbelly. His pale yellow frills were flung wildly in the wind, which he had to admit to himself was somewhat irritating. A pair of earbuds were shoved in his ears, tethered by a cord to a small device within a brown leather pouch tied around his left foreleg.

_Why am I even out here looking at a bunch of water anyway?_ he thought, realizing he had been standing there for almost ten minutes. He had recently finished his shift at the Jade Science Institute, though for what felt like the first time in years, he had nothing to do.

The device in his bag vibrated for a brief moment, and the SandWing reached over to take it out. It was a small metallic tablet, about the size of his talon, with a clear plastic screen on one side, rimmed in white. He pressed a small button on its side and its screen flared to life.

The digital clock read 4:08, and beneath it sat a single text message from Xavier.

**Kaizo mtch start at 5, you comn Hidden?** it read.

Hidden grinned, and muttered to himself as he typed his response. **On my way. Be there in 50.**

**:)** Xavier replied.

Hidden chuckled as he put away his PDA and earbuds. Zipping up the pouch, he flapped his wings and took off into the sky.

It wasn't long before Jade Mountain's iconic twin peaks loomed over his head. Beneath them sat the above ground portion of JSI, consisting of a few levels of modern architecture. The walls slanted outward as they rose level by level, thick concrete pillars offsetting the clear glass. Hidden noticed one of the slanted windows retracting, and a pair of LeafWings flew out of the opening and down to one of the lower levels.

Out front of the building sat a wide concrete pillar, rising above the jagged rocks that surrounded the mountain. Atop it was a minimalistic courtyard, consisting of two cement pathways that formed a cross amongst a well kept field of grass. At its center was the JSI dedication plaque that Hidden had passed so many times on his way to work.

Hidden landed by the train station, opposite the main JSI building. The 5:10 bullet train was just arriving, and Hidden was barely able to buy a ticket and hop on before it shot off towards its next destination.

The only other dragon in his car was a SilkWing, who was too busy with her PDA to acknowledge Hidden's entrance with little more than a brief glance. He stood gripping one of the railings as the train rushed forward, zipping past craggy peaks and easily outpacing the oncoming storm.

The train entered a dark tunnel, and suddenly, the lights went out. The bullet train slowed to a stop, its emergency brakes creating a piercing whine as they ground against the rails. The SilkWing looked up from her PDA at the pitch black car around her, made a somewhat annoyed grunt, and went back to what she was doing.

Hidden looked at the bright beam of light shining up in the SilkWing's face. "That's bad for your eyes, you know." he said.

The SilkWing looked up at him, confused.

"Your screen, that is. Looking at your bright screen in a dark environment is…"

"I. Don't. Care." said the SilkWing, before returning once again to her PDA.

The cabin's lights flickered back to life, and the train began to accelerate once again. Power surges like this had become commonplace in the past couple of years.

Quickly emerging from the dark tunnel, the train rounded a wide bend, and Hidden could see his destination growing on the horizon.

Possibility.

The massive city skyline grew by the second, its skyscrapers gleaming in the afternoon light. Even at this distance Hidden could make out the hundreds of dragons flying between the towering buildings. He checked the time on his PDA. 4:40. A little late, but he could make it.

The train screeched to a halt in the bustling East Possibility Station, doors sliding open to let in a tidal wave of noisy passengers. Hidden was barely able to squeeze his way out of the car before they crammed themselves in. The SilkWing wasn't as lucky.

The next minute the train was off, and so too was Hidden. He hightailed it out of the glass roofed station, ducking and weaving between the many pedestrians and nearly running into a massive MudWing. Once he was out on the concrete steps leading up to the station, he took to the sky.

He glided over one of the human districts of the city, its shorter buildings a stark contrast to the titanic skyscrapers in the dragon districts, and found himself above the Sequoia Marketplace. The buildings here were mostly small businesses, frequented by both dragons and humans. Hidden caught a whiff of hot, steamy pretzels and looked down to see Joe selling them from his food truck.

_I guess I have a bit of time before the match starts._ Hidden thought, checking the time once again.

Joe was a dark brown MudWing, about 50 or so years old, and had been running his food truck for about as long as Hidden could remember. He made the best pretzels this side of Possibility, in Hidden's opinion.

"Hey H, how's it goin'!" Joe said as Hidden spiraled down beside his truck.

Hidden rushed up to the window. "One plain salted pretzel bites! Please." He said, with no time for formalities.

"The usual huh?" Joe remarked, "Got someplace to be?"

"Just going to watch Xavier marmalize someone at Kaizo."

"Marmalize?" Joe asked, handing Hidden a paper bag of salted pretzel bites.

"Yeah, just heard someone say it at the lab today. Fun word to say, huh? Marmalize. Anyway, thanks!" Hidden said, quickly taking off into the sky once again.

He banked left and made a beeline for the East Possibility Convention Center. The building looked like three massive glass cubes had collided with each other at various angles, and was surrounded by a luscious park. He landed on the pavement outside the front entrance and stepped into the crowded building.

There were three events going on in the center that day. In the south cube was an arts and crafts expo, with many visitors leaving with bags stuffed with a variety of talon made knick knacks. The north cube was hosting a tech showcase sponsored by JSI. Hidden noticed a booth for the next generation of PDA he'd seen some researchers messing with back at the lab. His was already two generations behind.

His real concern was with the event in the west cube. There, a massive screen had been set up on a temporary stage. It displayed two direct feeds of the popular game Kaizo, an incredibly difficult platformer that had become very popular in pro speed runner leagues, as well as two webcams of the players on stage.

Hidden worked his way around the gathered crowd to the side of the stage, where he was stopped by a burly IceWing guard.

"Where do you think you're going?" the guard asked in a menacing tone. He was probably twice as tall as Hidden, and the way he looked down at him was pretty discomforting.

"Don't worry, he's with me!" a RainWing shouted from one of the couches onstage. The guard begrudgingly stepped to the side and Hidden sauntered up the steps and onto the wooden stage floor. He flopped down on the couch next to the RainWing. A SkyWing sitting on the other side of the couch looked over at Hidden.

"I was worried you weren't gonna show Hidden, right Xavier?" he said, looking at the RainWing clutching the game controller next to him.

Hidden checked the time on his PDA. "Actually, I'd say I'm right on time." he said, popping another pretzel bite into his mouth.

"Shut up Hidden, the game's about to start." Xavier said, not once peeling his eyes from the monitor before him.

A human in a ridiculous purple tuxedo stepped up to a tiny podium at the front of the stage. He began announcing the players up onstage in a booming voice, though Hidden found it hard to take him seriously in that eyesore of a suit.

The dragon Xavier was up against was a female SandWing named Bright. She was pretty well known as one of the best Kaizo runners out there. There was only one other dragon in the pro leagues who surpassed her.

The announcer turned to the players onstage. "Players ready?" he boomed, "START!"


	2. Chapter 2: Blackout

**Chapter 2: Blackout**

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**Neon Dunes Arcade and Pizza**

**8:14 P.M.**

Neon Dunes was surprisingly busy for a Tuesday night. Droves of obnoxious dragonets gathered around the flashy facades of the arcade games. Grubby talons swarmed around the prize center holding out small bundles of tickets. And the dining area carpet was covered in pepperonis and soda stains.

Amidst the cacophony of the arcade, Hidden and Xavier both stood around a retro pinball machine. It was themed off of the old horror movie _Twice Dead_, with faded decals depicting a horde of decaying zombified dragons chasing after a young SkyWing couple.

"Ba-ba-ba-BINGO!" Hidden shouted, launching the small metallic pinball straight through a bonus gate shaped like a dragon skull. "Just three more times and I beat my _high score_!"

"You _always _play this game Hidden! Come on, let's go duos on one of the on rails shooters. It looks like Wave of Termination is open!" Xavier pleaded.

"Quiet Xavier, you'll distract me! And besides, Wave of Termination sucks. And it's a real token eater too."

Xavier groaned. "Why do you even play this old thing so much anyway?" he asked.

"_Because,_" Hidden began, "I want to have a high score on at _least_ one of the games here. And the best way to maintain mine on this game is to continually surpass it."

"But nobody else even plays this game! The only reason it's still here is because _you_ play it so much!"

"_Exactly!_"

The pinball finally rolled through the middle of the bumpers and ended Hidden's game, though he had still succeeded in surpassing his old high score, albeit by a mere 20 points. "Alright Xavier," Hidden said, turning to the impatient RainWing, "We'll go play Wave of Termination."

Hidden noticed Xavier trying to suppress a gleeful grin as they made their way over to the game in question. They were greeted by a menacing robotic dragon head, looking down at them from above the wide screen with its glowing red eyes. The two each grabbed one of the plastic rifles from the stand before them, and Hidden slipped four tokens into the scuffed up coin slot.

The screen cut to a short movie depicting a city overrun by an army of robotic dragons, armed with everything from laser breath to missile launching tails. A ragtag group of dragons (and a couple humans too) descended upon the ravaged city and began fending off the robots with their artillery.

The camera swept into position in front of a small group of robots, and Hidden and Xavier unleashed a barrage of virtual bullets upon the adversaries. They spent the next ten minutes mowing down wave after wave of evil robots, the two cracking sarcastic remarks the whole time.

"These bots sure are nice to stand right in front of us so we can blast their faces off." Hidden said, blasting the face off of a robot dragon with chainsaw wings. He looked to his left to see a tiny NightWing dragonet staring at the game as if he were mesmerized, a half eaten slice of pizza gripped in one talon.

"Hey kid," Hidden began, snapping him out of his trance, "You know you're not supposed to bring food into the arcade area, right?"

The dragonet shot Hidden a petulant glare, chucked his pizza at Hidden's head, and ran off. Hidden managed to duck just in time to avoid the pizza, and it instead landed on Xavier's snout, covering up his eyes.

"Yeaaaugh!" Xavier screamed, dropping his rifle with a clatter and peeling the pizza slice off his face. "Hidden! What was that for?!"

Hidden turned to Xavier, snickering. "Don't blame me! Blame the kid!"

Xavier groaned as he stomped off to a nearby trash can. By the time he returned, he found his side of the screen covered in a game over message. Hidden's followed suit moments later.

"Ah turtle bites!" he said.

"We're out of tokens now anyway. I told you this thing was a token eater." Hidden stated.

"Oh did you now?" Xavier replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Eh, whatever. Why don't we go have some pizza?" Hidden suggested with a smirk on his face. He started to walk off to the eating area, with Xavier trailing behind.

"I'll have a salad." Xavier said.

The two of them sat down at one of the grimy tables and waited for their food to arrive. Xavier looked around at the crowded pizzeria, sighing. "Isn't it weird how we're still coming here and hanging out, even though we're pretty much adults?" he began.

"Pretty much? We were technically fully grown back in the _seventh grade_! And wasn't it your idea to come here after the match anyway?" Hidden replied. He had to admit to himself that he did find this place entertaining even years after passing the targeted age demographic.

"Well, yeah, I mean we've been going to this place since we were three! And it's changed _so much_!"

Hidden laughed. "Remember that time the new manager did the Strut n' Trut in that commercial!"

Xavier broke out into laughter as well, clutching a talon to his forehead. "Oh! It was _so cringe_!"

"_That word_ had become cringe." Hidden replied.

The two of them sat there laughing it up until their food arrived. Their server was a MudWing who seemed entirely disinterested in her job. Not even bothering to say hi when she dropped off their food.

The two of them sat eating for a bit, when a familiar SkyWing sauntered up to their table, hiding something behind his wings.

"Ricky! Where ya been?" Xavier said. Hidden was too busy trying to make out what Ricky was hiding to greet him.

"Oh, I was just over at the skee ball...winning this!" Ricky replied, whipping out a massive plush NightWing from the folds of his wings.

Hidden and Xavier sat back in astonishment. "Wh-where'd you get the tickets for that?!" Hidden remarked.

"From skee ball, weren't you listening?" Ricky replied, "It was only 10,000 tickets."

"Wha...10,000?! How much money did that cost you?!" Xavier asked.

Ricky grinned. "Ten bucks!"

Hidden and Ricky's mouths fell open as they transcended into an even higher plane of astonishment. Both were at a loss for words.

Ricky simply shrugged. "I guess I'm just good at skee ball."

Ricky sat down next to Hidden, his NightWing plush set across from him next to Xavier. The thing was nearly half his height!

Hidden handed Ricky a slice of his pizza, and he eagerly snatched it up and took a large bite. "Either of you wanna come with me to the kart track tomorrow afternoon?" he asked through a full mouth.

Hidden and Xavier both shrugged. "Sure. Whatever." Hidden said.

And then the lights went out.

Another power surge struck the city. In an instant the bright and noisy arcade games all silenced as the arcade fell into darkness. The joyful screaming that had once filled the arcade the moment before was instantly replaced with dragonets whining and complaining. And one _very_ loud infant.

Hidden started counting the seconds until the power would turn back on. _One...two...three…_

But it never did. The crying and complaining continued, and the lights remained dark. The trio of dragons slowly rose from their seats. Ricky grabbed his prize, and the three of them walked out of the entrance to the arcade.

The entire city was dark. Dragons were out in the streets looking around in confusion, waiting for the power to return. Hidden looked back at the neon sign for Neon Dunes Arcade and Pizza, now so dark he could barely read it.

Xavier turned on the flashlight on his PDA. "What the moons is going on? Don't these surges last only a few seconds?" he asked in a wavering tone.

Hidden sighed and looked up at the stars, now clearly visible without all of the light pollution from the city. Two of the three moons were crescents that night. The third was full.

"Have you ever wondered what's really been going on at JSI?" Hidden asked, still eating his slice of pizza.

Ricky stepped up, confused. "Didn't they say they were working on some new experimental power plant, and that it would cause some power surges as they ironed it out?"

Hidden shook his head. "They said that was the case _two years ago_. So why would there still be so many power surges now? Honestly I'm surprised more aren't suspicious!" He started pacing around the sidewalk outside of the pizzeria. A few other dragons had stepped out to head home, though flying through the city in a power outage like this at night would be dangerous.

"Xavier, could you get me a USB with one of your jailbreaks tomorrow morning?" Hidden asked.

"Yeah, what for?" Xavier asked, though Hidden could tell by the worried look on his face that he knew what was coming.

"We're breaking into JSI."


	3. Chapter 3: Anticipation

**Chapter 3:** **Anticipation**

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**NitroWing Racing**

**4:40 P.M.**

The power surge from the day before had lasted approximately two and a half hours. It wasn't the first major power outage experienced by the Possibility Metropolitan Area, and the authorities were able to maintain relative control where needed. The JSI Board of Directors issued a public announcement the following morning apologizing for the incident, and despite some theorizing on web forums, nobody else seemed interested in verifying the Board's claims.

"You gotta admit Xavier, it's kinda weird how nobody else is as suspicious as we are." Hidden said. The two of them were sitting around a table near the snack bar, Xavier working furiously on his laptop. Half a dozen go karts zipped by on the twisting indoor racetrack, their humming engines occasionally interrupted by half hearted cheers from the nearby bleachers.

"You mean as suspicious as _you_ are?" Xavier interjected, "We've all seen the reactor they've been testing, we know it's real. It probably just shut down or something."

Hidden shook his head. "No no...if that was the case then there would be backup plants to pick up the slack. I highly doubt JSI would rig such a massive urban area to a single experimental reactor, especially one that _very clearly_ is not designed to provide so much power!"

He began pacing around the table while Xavier continued typing away on his laptop. Xavier looked up at him and shrugged. "You're the hardware guy here."

"Whatever is causing the surges is unleashing a massive amount of energy, large enough to temporarily shut off power in the entire city! At first I was only a little suspicious of the situation, since the surges only ever lasted a few seconds, but after what happened last night? There's no _way_ that dinky reactor could cause something that catastrophic!"

"Hidden, you sound like a conspiracy theorist." Xavier said bluntly.

Hidden chuckled at this. _Oh moons...I do, don't I… _he thought, embarrassed. He pinched his snout, sighing. "This has been bugging me for _two years_, so sorry if I'm being a bit annoying."

"That is something you're good at." Xavier said, smirking. Hidden playfully punched him in the shoulder and looked out towards the racetrack. Ricky was currently holding third place, though the two drivers in front of him were driving right next to each other in a clear attempt to block him from passing.

_Worm tails. _Hidden thought.

"I'm in!" Xavier chirped triumphantly, snapping Hidden's attention back to the laptop. The screen was filled with folders of research documents and windows displaying live security camera footage. Xavier turned to look at Hidden, a dopey grin painted across his snout.

"We've got complete access to their servers, _including_ the entire lab's security system! Your inside job really worked Hidden!" he said excitedly.

"All I did was sneak a USB into one of their PCs, _you're_ the software guy here!" Hidden said. The two of them snickered for a bit before returning their attention to the laptop.

"So...see anything unusual?" Hidden asked.

Xavier spent a few minutes perusing the files. He stumbled upon a folder marked _**S Generator**_, and began digging through it.

"Here's the stuff about the generator." he said, coming across one listing the machine's specs. "Looks like you were right, this thing really isn't capable of causing a citywide blackout."

"Who'da thunk?" Hidden said smugly. This time it was Xavier who punched Hidden in the shoulder.

"Looks like there's a _bunch_ of mentions of a 'Project Salvation'. Don't know what that is, but it might be what they're trying to cover up." Xavier continued.

"Five bucks it's a spaceship designed to save all or a portion of the global population in the event of an apocalypse."

"Is this about that movie that just came out...Day After Doomsday?"

"Maybe…"

They continued looking through the folder for a couple more minutes as the go karts finished their race.

"Any more info about Project Salvation?" Hidden asked.

Xavier shook his head. "They're probably storing it on a separate server. It must be pretty classified."

"You think you could find out where the project is located in the facility?" Hidden asked.

Xavier nodded, though his face expressed concern. "You're not _really_ thinking about breaking in there...are you?"

Hidden looked up to see Ricky approaching their table. "Well...yeah." he said, "We already know something's up, and it's the only way we're going to find out what that is."

Xavier sighed and closed down his laptop. "I'll see what we can find. But so help me if we get arrested, you're _never_ going to hear the end of it."

"Hey guys, what's up!" Ricky said gleefully as he sat down with them around the table.

"Eh...nothin' much. Have fun in the race?" Hidden asked.

"Sorta," Ricky began, "but the guys in front of me were being real jerks and wouldn't let me pass." The SkyWing's wings drooped. "Hey, can't win 'em all."

"You're a great driver Ricky!" Xavier said, "You just had bad luck today, that's all!"

Ricky perked up a bit at this statement. The three sat chatting for a while as the next batch of racers zipped around the track, when Ricky suddenly spoke up.

"I'm coming with you." he said.

Hidden and Xavier stared at him for a brief moment, slightly confused.

"To JSI," Ricky clarified, "I know you're planning on breaking in soon."

"Oh!" Hidden said, "Yeah sure. Whatever."

Ricky seemed a little shocked at this, as did Xavier. "Really? I can just come along like that?"

"You're my brother Ricky, of course I want you along. And besides, Xavier has complete control of their security systems, so it won't be a problem. Isn't that right Xavier?"

Ricky cast Xavier a shocked look as the RainWing backed up, holding up his talons.

"Well...yeah, but...I...ugh…" he said, flustered. "Alright, alright, he can come. But let me warn you Ricky! If we get caught we'll be in a mountain of trouble. Ya hear?"

"I'm fine with that." Ricky said, "I wouldn't want to watch you guys get in trouble without me anyway."

"So then it's settled." Hidden said, slapping both talons onto the table and drawing a glance from the IceWing running the snack bar. "Now all we have to do is figure out where the moons they're hiding this 'Project Salvation'."

* * *

**Sandside Apartment Complex**

**Room 303**

**7:30 P.M.**

Hidden and Ricky were sitting around the dinner table in their small two bedroom apartment. They lived there with their father, Bill, who was also a researcher at JSI. In recent years he had begun working later shifts at the lab, and most likely wouldn't be home until 10:00.

Ricky had prepared kabobs that evening, his cooking was as excellent as ever. The two sat eating in relative silence, constantly eyeing the clock that hung above the TV. Earlier that day Hidden had received a text from Xavier.

Salvation had been located, and they were breaking in that very night.

Hidden attempted to strike up a conversation with Ricky. "I...don't think I've tasted anything like this before. It's good! But the meat doesn't taste like anything I've ever had!"

"It's dragonbite viper." Ricky replied, "I got it a couple days ago from the Sequoia Marketplace."

"Huh?" Hidden said, looking down at the platter of kabobs in the center of the table. "I guess that explains the tingling feeling in my mouth. Is it Pyrrhian or Pantalan?"

"Pantalan. Pyrrhian vipers are endangered, right?"

Hidden nodded, and the table fell into silence once again. Hidden looked up at the clock for what felt like the thousandth time.

7:50.

Ten more minutes.

Ricky took the remaining kabobs and put them in the refrigerator for their father. Hidden pointed at the clock, and the two of them set off for their shared bedroom.

Hidden flipped on the light switch, illuminating the cluttered room. A small bunk bed sat in the far corner, a desk next to it covered in pieces of Hidden's unfinished projects. Hidden snatched up a large backpack he'd prepared for the trip off of the desk and fastened it around his forelegs and wings.

Ricky began frantically stuffing a black and blue duffel with a wide assortment of items: food, batteries, books, his grey cloak. He also grabbed the NightWing plush he had won at the arcade the week before. Hidden didn't ask him _why _he needed it. Over-packing was a habit of Ricky's, especially in stressful circumstances.

The two stepped up to the apartment's exit. Ricky gave Hidden an affirmative nod, and he unlocked the door. They stepped out onto the wide balcony, overlooking the Sandside Apartment Complex's parking lot, and took off toward East Possibility Station.


	4. Chapter 4: The Jade Science Institute

**AN:**

**Thanks to QueenGlorytheFirst for the review! It was really motivating, and I hope I can maintain this level of quality moving forward! The story is going to some crazy places and I'm a little worried my ambition might outpace my writing.**

**This chapter and the next were originally one chapter, but to my surprise it wound up being so long I had to slice it in two! There won't be as good of a cliffhanger at the end of this one, though hopefully you'll like the new character introduced here. I'd love to hear what you think of the main cast so far, as I don't want any of them to be too ****annoying****.**

**That said, it's time for the invasion of the Jade Science Institute to begin!**

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Jade Science Institute**

* * *

**8:15 Train to JSI**

**8:27 P.M.**

Rain drops splattered and slid against the foggy windows of the bullet train as it sped through the stormy night. Spotlights that lined the track flew by one after the other, casting ghostly illuminations that danced across the cabin walls.

Hidden and Ricky were alone in their car. Ricky sat with his duffle open in front of him, sighing in embarrassment at the sheer excess of its contents. Hidden sat across from Ricky on the west facing side of the car. He stared thoughtfully out of the window behind him, head resting in the palm of his talon.

The heavy rain made it nearly impossible to see the twin peaks of Jade Mountain. The most Hidden could make out was the tiny red dots of light from the radio towers atop its higher peak.

_Thanks a lot universe._ Hidden thought. _Really setting the mood…_

The train screeched to a stop under the concrete ramada of JSI Station. Hidden and Ricky stepped out into the humid air. A few workers from the lab boarded the train after them, paying the two no mind whatsoever, and the bullet train quickly sped away into the darkness.

The circular courtyard was completely empty. Bright spotlights hung from utility poles illuminated the criss-crossing pathways that cut through soggy grass. Hidden stepped out into the rain, but Ricky hesitated, eyeing his belongings.

"The bag's waterproof, what's the holdup?" he asked. He saw Ricky fumbling around with the overstuffed duffle, trying and failing to shove its contents far enough in to get it closed. Hidden stepped back under the ramada and lent a talon, pressing down on the bulging form of Ricky's NightWing plush as Ricky slowly zipped up the bag.

Finally, the two stepped out into the downpour. They turned left, taking a path that ran around the edge of the courtyard, and dove over the edge. Raindrops bounced off their wings as they glided down around the side of the pillar.

It was difficult to see in the temperamental weather, but Hidden knew from experience that a human sized staircase wound its way down this side of the pillar toward a large metal platform. There, set into the curved concrete wall, would be two metal doors, one human sized and one dragon sized.

Hidden and Ricky landed in front of the dragon sized door. A small lamp above it lit up a warning sign on the door reading **FIRE ESCAPE! DO NOT ENTER! **in bold red letters.

Hidden whipped out his PDA from his leg pouch and quickly punched in a text message. **Open the door!**

A few seconds passed, and the two were still standing in the rain. Hidden wondered if Xavier was even there yet, or if he had been caught. When the metal door slid open, he half expected to be greeted by an angry mob of security guards.

The door finished sliding, and on the other side stood a lone RainWing clutching a laptop. "Took you guys long enough!" he said impatiently as the two trudged inside. Ricky tossed his duffel down, leaning himself against a stack of crates to catch his breath.

"Three moons Ricky! How much stuff did you bring?" Xavier asked, poking the lumpy wet bag with his talon.

"Sorry! I was…*huff*...stress packing again…" Ricky said as he caught his breath. "Flying with that thing...is…*cough*..._tough_."

Hidden chuckled. "Who knows," he said, "maybe some of that stuff will come in handy!"

A faint smile crept across Ricky's face as he got up. Hidden turned his attention to Xavier, who was carefully monitoring security footage on his laptop. "So where are they hiding this thing anyway?" Hidden asked.

"Level B17, Lab 1707." Xavier explained, "I think there's a secret entrance past a maintenance door in there. We should probably get moving."

The three set off down the labyrinthine corridors of JSI's underground facility. Each and every hallway looked the same. White tiled floors with white painted concrete walls and white paneled roofs accented with white fluorescent lights. Hidden had walked these halls hundreds of times, and yet for some reason they seemed much narrower that night. _Probably just the stress getting to me._ he thought.

Every so often, the group would have to take cover in a cramped supply closet or empty lab to avoid running into passing employees. Progress was slow because of this, and by 8:50 they'd only just made it to Level B7.

"Why don't we just take the elevator down?" Ricky asked as they wound their way down a dimly lit stairwell. He had been lagging behind them, struggling to carry his unwieldy duffel down the steep flights of stairs.

"Yeah, sure. Let's go lock ourselves in a tiny metal box with no escape that is frequented by nearly every employee in the facility." Hidden sarcastically remarked.

Suddenly, he froze. Ricky and Xavier stopped abruptly behind him. "What's the holdup?!" Xavier whispered.

The faint sound of footsteps could be heard further down the stairwell, and they were coming closer. The three stood silently for a second, before bolting out of the nearest exit and into another white hallway. "Shouldn't you be monitoring the security footage, in case of something like _that_?" Hidden said angrily.

Xavier shrugged. "They don't have security cameras in the stairwells! I don't know _why_, but they don't!"

"You're still rewriting their current security footage so they don't see us, right?" Hidden asked. He didn't want to take any chances after a close call like that.

Xavier checked his laptop for a second, and nodded. "They should be getting footage from a month ago."

"Uh...what are you guys doing?"

The trio froze. Xavier quickly shut his laptop, and Hidden and Ricky began looking around for the source of the voice. "Wh-Who's there?!" Ricky asked, dropping his duffel and backing up against one of the walls.

"Down here scale brains!"

Hidden turned around and looked down. Standing defiantly beside his tail barb was a human, and he'd heard everything.

"What are you guys up to? And what's in that bag?" The human asked, pointing towards Ricky's duffel. "Oh, wait! Is it a _body_?!"

Ricky stepped back in shock. "What?! No! What would give you that idea?!"

The human shrugged, and Xavier turned to Hidden, a worried expression on his face. "What do we do now Hidden? Do you know this guy?"

Hidden squinted his eyes as he looked the person over. He seemed to be somewhere in his twenties. He had brown hair and pale skin, wore a sky blue janitor's uniform, and carried a wooden mop. Hidden swore he had seen the person before, swinging his mop around like a sword when he thought nobody was looking. This gave Hidden an idea.

"My name's Reggie, dudes." the human said, "Now are you gonna tell me what's up or what?"

Xavier and Ricky both cast Hidden sideways glances, unsure of what to do. Hidden smirked.

"We've hacked into JSI's mainframe and are breaking in to figure out what's _really_ causing all those power surges."

"Hidden!" Xavier shouted, clamping his snout shut. "What are you _doing_?! Trying to get us arrested?!" Ricky seemed just as shocked and puzzled.

Hidden carefully peeled Xavier's talons off his snout and nodded towards Reggie. The human seemed to be overcome with excitement.

"That. Sounds. AWESOME!" he said exuberantly. "You have _got_ to let me join you dudes!"

Xavier's mouth dropped as Hidden gave an affirmative nod. "Sure, so long as you don't rat us out."

"Aww yeah! This is gonna be _tight_!"

Hidden leaned over to Xavier, whispering into his ear. "Better he joins us than reports to the security staff, am I right?"

Xavier groaned and opened up his laptop. "Fine, whatever." he said, "But we need to keep moving, or else _your_ dad's gonna come home and see you two missing." He pointed at Hidden and Ricky.

"Wait...wha? You two are brothers?" Reggie asked, "You two hybrids or something?"

"No. Hidden's adopted." Ricky explained casually as he picked up his duffel. He'd already accepted Reggie as a member or their group, trusting in Hidden's judgement.

"Oh, cool!" Reggie said, giving Hidden and Ricky an awkward thumbs up. Ricky gladly gave a thumbs up back, while Hidden rolled his eyes.

"Oh right! You guys wait here, I gotta go get something!" Reggie said, slapping his forehead.

He quickly bolted to a nearby supply closet and disappeared into the human sized door. Hidden sighed. "Well, at least he's friendly." he remarked. This elicited another groan from Xavier.

The dragon door to the closet slowly slid open, and out came Reggie. He was riding atop one of the lab's custom floor cleaners, a bulky plastic vehicle resembling a zamboni that had been modified to reach speeds on par with a dragon's stride. He held his wooden mop before him like a lance, pointing forward towards the hallway ahead.

"Onward!" he shouted.

"Uh...we're going that way." Xavier interjected, pointing in the opposite direction.

Reggie stopped the cleaner, slowly turned it around, and set off in the direction Xavier had pointed.

"Onward, for real this time!

Hidden shrugged and gave Xavier a half hearted smile. Ricky stood behind them giggling. "Guess we should get going then." Hidden said. And the three dragons set off after their new companion.


	5. Chapter 5: Project Salvation

**AN:**

**I'm uploading this one early since it was already written. This story doesn't really have an upload schedule though, I just publish chapters when they're ready.**

**This concludes the first "episode" of this story. I'd love to see what people think so far, as the story after this is going to be pretty wild! Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 5: Project Salvation**

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**The Jade Science Institute**

**8:56 P.M.**

The four continued making their way deeper and deeper into the lab. The three dragons arrived at another stairwell, Xavier vigilantly checking the cameras monitoring its exits to ensure their secrecy. Reggie took a nearby service elevator, thanks to his janitorial position. Before long they arrived at the deepest level of the facility, Level B17.

They made their way through the deepest halls of the facility. They were visually indistinguishable from the ones above, and yet the group still felt like the entire world above was pressing hard above them. Hidden was lagging behind the rest of the group, surfing the web for any stories about a break in at JSI, when he noticed Reggie slowing his cleaner down to drive next to him. He honked the horn, waving.

"Hey, dude! Uh...what's your name again?"

"It's Hidden." Hidden replied.

"What do you mean?" Reggie asked, "Is it a secret or something?"

Hidden groaned. He'd had this experience dozens of times before, and while somewhat amusing at first it had quickly grown old. "No, my name _is _Hidden." he corrected.

"Oooooooh. Cool! So uh..._Hidden_. I think I've seen you around here before. You work here or something?"

Hidden was a little embarrassed to admit his position in the facility, though the expectant look on Reggie's face convinced him to spill.

"I've been an intern here for about a year." he explained, scratching the back of his head, "Fetching coffee, sorting paperwork, that sorta stuff. A real waste of my talents if you ask me."

Reggie smirked. "You think _you_ have it bad? I'm the one who has to clean up all the chemical spills around here! I swear all those lab coats have butterfingers! Or...talons?"

The two began laughing as they continued their banter. Hidden noticed Xavier looking back at them with a confused expression on his face.

Eventually, the group arrived at Lab 1707. Hidden swing open the door without hesitation, and they silently entered the lab.

The lights were off in the room, and nobody dared switch them on. The dark room looked no different than any other chemical lab in the facility. Black countertops lined the white walls. Brown wooden shelves hung above the counters, with various pieces of equipment neatly sorted atop them.

There didn't seem to be any ongoing experiments at the moment. In fact, the lab seemed deserted. Hidden ran a talon across one of the countertops and noticed a thin film of dust had formed on its surface.

The four approached the door at the back of the room. A sign on it clearly read **Pipeline Maintenance, AUTHORIZED P****ERSON****NEL ONLY!** Ricky tried the knob, but it was locked.

"The security footage I saw showed a few dragons heading in and out of that door quite frequently, and they didn't look like maintenance guys." Xavier explained.

"I could try to pick the lock." Hidden offered.

_Click!_

The four immediately slid into hiding as the door swung open. Ricky and Reggie dove behind Xavier, who quickly camouflaged himself. Hidden leapt up above the door and took hold of some sprinkler pipes hanging from the roof. _Please don't break please don't break please don't break!_ he thought.

A MudWing and a SilkWing wearing white lab coats emerged from the darkness beyond the doorway. The door quickly began to close, but Hidden was able to slide his tail barb in the way before it could.

"We should hurry." the SilkWing said to the MudWing, "Everyone's probably already made it to The Cabana by now."

"I hear they have a new drink." the MudWing explained, "Dragon-trap Delight, I think. It's supposed to be _exotic_."

The two left the darkened lab laughing. Hidden silently dropped down from the ceiling, holding open the once locked door. "After you." he said.

Beyond the door was a massive chamber, shrouded in darkness, and so large it seemed to stretch off into the void. An emergency light cast a small halo around the entryway, but it was quickly consumed by the abyss surrounding them.

The four walked out onto a metal catwalk, one by one. Hidden couldn't help but feel uneasy on the narrow walkway, surrounded by so much emptiness. He and Ricky quickly switched on the flashlights on their PDAs. Their beams were quickly lost in the darkness, and Hidden worried that they weren't going to find anything, when a glimmer caught his eye.

He shone his flashlight up and ahead of them, and gasped at what he saw before him.

The light illuminated a massive piece of curved golden metal plating. Scanning his flashlight across revealed it to stretch out further than his beam could reach. From the small portion of it that he could see, Hidden guessed that it had the general shape of a bullet, albeit the size of a cruise ship. Moving the beam upward, he could just barely make out the word **Salvation** in bold black letters, a stylized depiction of a dragon mid flight beneath it.

The other three had stopped in their tracks as well. Reggie stood trying to take a picture of it with his PDA, the smile on his face stretching from ear to ear. Ricky rapidly swung his flashlight beam about the structure, trying his best to get a complete view of it. Xavier simply stood in shock, mouth agape.

"It's...it's...it's a…"

"Spaceship." Hidden finished. Xavier didn't take his attention away from the vessel, simply replying with a slight nod of his head.

Hidden rest an arm on Xavier's shoulder. "Looks like somebody owes me five bucks." he said smugly.

This got Xavier's attention, prompting him to shake off Hidden's arm and cast him an annoyed glance. "We don't know what it's _for _yet." Xavier corrected.

Hidden smiled, "Come on, let's go check it out!"

Xavier shut his laptop and smiled back, and the two of them caught up to Ricky and Reggie.

The catwalk led to a circular door on the ship's hull, which Hidden presumed to be an airlock. It was left open, conveniently, and the group stepped inside of the massive ship.

The interior of the ship was dark, and Xavier and Reggie both pulled out their own flashlights to help light up the space. They were in a square corridor, with grey metal walls and floor and a roof covered in various pipes and cables. It ran down the vessel in both directions, though what was down either way was a mystery.

"Sooooo...do we split up?" Reggie asked.

"It's best if we stick together." Hidden suggested, "Then we've all taken the same route and are more likely to remember the way back.

And so the four of them turned left and made their way down the long corridor. Hidden ran a talon along the wall as they walked, finding a strip of glass that ran horizontally down the hall.

"*huff*...Hey, guys…*huff*...wait up will ya?"

Reggie had left the floor cleaner outside of the lab, leaving him no way to keep up with the dragons on foot. The three stopped and turned around, eyeing the exhausted human with concern.

"Well, what now?" Xavier asked, "We can't just leave him behind, not here."

Hidden thought for a moment. There most likely weren't any vehicles around here Reggie could use, but there was no way he'd be able to sprint along with them.

"Here, you can ride on me!" Ricky offered, kneeling down.

Reggie stepped back, stunned. "Wait...ride on you? But isn't that, like, really demeaning or something?"

Ricky shrugged. "It's not like there's anyone else here to see."

"O-Okay." Reggie said as he hesitantly climbed up Ricky's leg and onto his back. Hidden had to admit it took a lot of guts for a dragon to let a human ride them. Ricky's willingness to put himself in such a demeaning position for the sake of others was just one of the things Hidden admired about his brother.

"Here Hidden, can you take my bag for me?" Ricky asked, tossing his duffel straight into Hidden's chest. He was sent flying back, slamming against the metal wall.

"Thanks…" Hidden wheezed, struggling to lift the bulky bag. _Three moons! How does he lift this thing?!_

With Reggie comfortably situated between Ricky's back spines, the group made their way through the dark corridors of the Salvation. Occasionally they would pass by larger rooms, including what looked like barracks, a cafeteria, and an engine room. Eventually they wound up in a massive central chamber, its roof stretching high into the darkness. Hidden figured it could hold _at least_ 200 dragons, maybe more.

They came to a stairwell, and upon ascending and heading down the connected hall reached what Hidden figured to be the bridge. Three of its four walls were slanted windows reminiscent of the surface levels of JSI. A walkway ran through the center of the room, with two lowered areas on either side lined with inactive consoles. At the end of the walkway was a central console, where the captain was most likely meant to stand.

Reggie slid off of Ricky's back and walked down the ramp to the right of the central walkway, admiring the consoles that towered above him. Ricky meanwhile walked up to the central console, lightly brushing his talon over its various controls.

"Careful Ricky, we wouldn't want to accidentally start this thing up." Hidden warned, but his attention was drawn by Xavier, who was trying to show him something on his laptop.

"I don't like this Hidden." he said, "There's a whole bunch of dragons entering this lab on B10. And look, your dad's with them!"

Hidden's eyes grew wide as he recognized the familiar shape of Bill. The SkyWing was walking into Lab 1016 with a group of other researchers. He turned to Ricky, who was still admiring the central console. "Guys, I think we should get out of…"  
Out of nowhere, a blinding white light filled the chamber outside of the Salvation. Hidden's eyes took a few seconds to adjust, and when they did he realized Ricky had fallen onto the central console in the shock. Within seconds the entire bridge was alive, consoles blazing to life. A glowing blue light began spreading along the glass stripes in the walls Hidden had felt earlier, and a disembodied female voice started speaking.

"Autopilot engaged. Prepare for warp."

Hidden couldn't see what Reggie was doing in the trench, nor did he have time to run up and grab Ricky. A pulsating energy was throbbing throughout the ship, and a blinding blue light was steadily growing in front of it. Hidden had just enough time to turn his head to the left, looking out the window at a scrambling group of researchers in a faraway observation room.

Amidst the chaos stood his father, staring at him across the expansive hangar the Salvation was housed in. Hidden sheepishly smiled, and in an instant, he was gone.

The first great voyage of the Salvation had begun.


	6. Chapter 6: A Whole New World

**AN:**

**A new chapter comes hurdling towards you ahead of time! Technically though this is on time, and the last chapter was early since it and the one before it were originally one chapter. With the world as it is right now I have a lot of spare time on my hands, and I have an idea as to how this story will end too, so now it's just a matter of sorting out everything in the middle. Part of me is worried I might burn myself out or leave no time for reviews to come in if I take this too quickly, but another part of me worries that I might loose interest in this story eventually. It seems that most times I start some kind of personal project I quickly loose interest, whether it be from burnout or self doubt or a mix of both. Now this story has been brewing in my mind for years, this being the fourth major iteration of it, and I doubt I will loose interest that quickly. I also think it helps to know that people are reading this, since many of my other ideas were scrapped before they could be released to the world. I guess that's just the way art works, and admittedly some of those old ideas probably weren't very good either. I am still clinging to an idea for a Wings of Fire pseudo mash up with my favorite manga and anime Dr. Stone, but I've set it aside for the time being since it can only be best represented in a visual format. Hopefully I'll be able to finish Salvation, what's currently written is only the tip of the iceberg in this narrative, and things will only get crazier from here! With that rambling out of the way, I hope you enjoy the next chapter of Wings of Fire: Salvation, this time from Ricky's perspective!**

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**Chapter 6: A Whole New World**

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**?**

Ricky was starting to regret coming to JSI that night. He wasn't a super-genius like Hidden, nor was he a tech wizard like Xavier. His stress packing had made their covert mission all the more taxing. And now they were stuck in a spaceship flying through some kind of blue wormhole, all because he got spooked by some lights.

He was crouched on the floor next to the central console, forelegs wrapped around its neck as tightly as he could manage. His teeth were tightly gritted, and his eyes were held shut.

_Please let this be a dream! Wake up! WAKE UP!_

He started to feel something...strange..working its way up from his tail to his snout. Opening his eyes, he saw that most of his scales were standing on end. He looked to the back of the bridge and saw Hidden and Xavier pinned to the wall next to the entrance. Their scales were puffed up too, though they seemed too busy screaming to notice.

Ricky was starting to hyperventilate. He tried fixating on the swirling vortex ahead of them. Focusing on the point at the center of it, he imagined he was back at NirtoWing racing, driving a go kart on its twisting indoor track.

It seemed to be working, his breathing was starting to steady.

He sat next to the console like that for a few minutes, slowly trying to collect himself. Hidden and Xavier had stopped screaming, and seemed to be trying to steady themselves on the bridge's floor. Reggie was nowhere to be seen.

Just as things had begun to calm down, the vortex was abruptly ripped away and replaced with a bright blue sky. The sun shone in through the window as soft white clouds rolled across the horizon.

Ricky felt a brief moment of respite at the sight of the familiar sky, but it was quickly washed away as the nose of the Salvation dipped toward a range of overgrown mountains and valleys. An alarm began bellowing as red lights rapidly swung about the chamber. Ricky felt like his stomach had been shoved up his throat as the Salvation made a beeline for the peaks below.

_Well...I guess this is it… _ Ricky thought as he braced himself for impact.

Just as they were about to collide with one of the rocky peaks, the Salvation sharply veered to the left. Ricky had to take hold of the console once again to avoid being thrown from the raised walkway.

The Salvation shook, barely scraping past the mountain towards a wide grassy meadow. With a resounding boom, the salvation crashed into the soil, tearing the grass asunder and splashing dirt and debris across the bridge's window. The ship whined and groaned as it settled into the soil, and soon after the female voice began speaking once again.

"Emergency landing complete. Minimal damage sustained. Have a nice day!"

A circular doorway on the right side of the bridge slid open, a small cascade of debris sliding in on the smooth metal flooring.

Ricky took a look around the bridge. The window was covered with dirt, leaving little visibility of the outside world. White lights illuminated the room, reflecting across the many screens and consoles. Looking at his scales, he noticed that they had returned to normal, thankfully.

Xavier was the first out the doorway, bolting across the room while he clutched his stomach. Ricky cringed as he listened to Xavier unleash a stream of vomit outside. Hidden started after him, still struggling to carry Ricky's duffel. "Don't go blowing chunks on our ship Xavier!" he called, "I'm not the one who's cleaning it up!"

"Isn't this…*hreugh*...JSI's ship…"

"Not anymore."

Ricky got himself up, admittedly feeling a little queasy himself. He unsteadily made his way towards the exit, taking one last look at the bridge before stepping out into the bright morning light. At first he was somewhat blinded as his eyes adjusted, but when they did he found himself staring out at one of the most beautiful vistas he'd ever seen.

Majestic mountain peaks towered above them, crowned with dense tropical foliage. Forests of bamboo were scattered about, their shoots swaying in the breeze. A river ran down one valley, eventually cascading down a sheer cliff and joining with others as they spread out toward the horizon.

"I-It's...it's beautiful!" Ricky exclaimed, too full of joy to remember the gravity of their situation. "Hidden, I've never seen any place like this!"

Hidden chuckled. "Yeah, me neither."

Hidden didn't seem to be as awestruck with the scenery as Ricky was. Instead, he seemed to me a mix of excited and contemplative.

Xavier had managed to pull himself together, and was staring at the scenery as well. "H-Hidden. Where are we?" he said in a shaky voice.

"Well," Hidden replied, "Bamboo is a plant native to Pantala, so I'd say we're there...but…" He trailed off, turning around to look at the others. "We should probably fly up and take a look around, just to be sure."

He lifted off into the sky, Ricky and Xavier following close behind. Ricky took a look back at the Salvation, finally witnessing its full scope. The golden hull was in the general shape of a bullet, with a rounded off front end. The rectangular bridge was situated on the top of the front of the vessel, jutting out of its curved hull. Secured to the back by four sturdy fins was a massive ring, which Ricky figured was part of the main propulsion system.

The ship had left a nasty gash in the once serene meadow. Slabs of earth had been shoved up on either side, and the entire bottom half of the vessel appeared to be buried. Ricky winced, he hated seeing such a beautiful place ruined, especially by his own talons.

Eventually the three hovered side by side, far above the crash site below. Ricky looked out at the expansive mountain range, spreading out as far as the eye could see, but his attention was directed behind him by Hidden.

"Look, see what I mean?"

There, barely visible on the horizon, was Jade Mountain.

Ricky felt himself starting to hyperventilate again. He looked over to Xavier, who seemed just as shocked. _Wh-what's going on here? _ he thought. _There's no mountain range like this in Pyrrhia, right? Are we even still in Pyrrhia? Why's Jade Mountain there then? Where are we?!_

"From the looks of it, I'd guess we're somewhere near the Mud Kingdom." Hidden postulated, "Though that doesn't explain why the moons there's a picturesque mountain range here instead of a dank swamp."

"M-Maybe we traveled back in time?" Xavier suggested. "Maybe that ship's actually a time machine!"

"Doubt it." Hidden replied, shaking his head, "There's zero evidence anything like this existed where the Mud Kingdom is now."

Xavier shrugged. "Maybe we went _really_ far forward in time instead?"

Hidden shook his head again, looking down at the Salvation below. "Right now I'd say we should focus on finding out how to get that thing up and running again. Then _maybe_ we could do a little exploring." he said with a smile.

Ricky slapped his forehead. "Ak! Reggie! We left him down there!"

Ricky didn't wait to see if the others were following. He dove towards the salvation and straight into the bridge, sliding across the smooth metal floor. He quickly bounded into the right trench and began looking around for the human.

He spotted a pair of tiny legs sticking out from under one of the consoles, and carefully carried Reggie in his front talons out onto the hull of the ship. The others had landed outside the hatch, and seemed to be staring at something in the sky.

"I think he's out cold." Ricky stated, laying Reggie on the cold metal plating. "What now?"

"We deal with our secret admirer up there." Hidden suggested, pointing a talon up toward the sky. Ricky looked up and saw a brown dot hovering in the distance. It began spiraling down towards them, and as it got closer Ricky realized that it was a MudWing.

The MudWing hesitantly came to a landing beside the four, eyeing each and every one of them with suspicion. She seemed to be about fifteen years old, with dark brown scales and a tan underbelly. Her piercing green eyes sent shivers down Ricky's spine.

"And you are?" Hidden began, gesturing to the MudWing.

She took a step back, looking Hidden up and down. "Listen here," she began, "I don't know who you are, or what you are doing with this...this...giant golden firework, but the empress will soon have you arrested for this destruction. So I would suggest you run while you still can."

Hidden was about to make a comeback, when Reggie decided it was time to wake up. "Eugh...what the? What's going on guys? Where are we? And why does my head hurt?" he said lethargically.

The MudWing fell backward, eyes wide. "D-D-Did th-that sc-sc-scavenger just _talk_?!" she stammered, pointing at Reggie.

"She sees a spaceship fall out of the sky and _that's_ what she's surprised about?" Hidden remarked. Ricky and Xavier were too stunned by the MudWing's blatant use of racial slurs to respond.

Reggie turned to the MudWing, confused. "Who are you callin' a scavenger MudWing?"

The MudWing seemed to be shocked out of her bewilderment, instead growing noticeably irritated, as if Reggie had seriously offended her in some kind of way.

"Who are _you_ calling a MudWing?" she said, getting back to her feet.

Ricky stared at the MudWing, confused. "Well, isn't that what you are?" he asked.

The MudWing angrily turned to him now, making him take a couple of steps back. "S-Sorry! No offense, it's just. Where we're from, that's what we call dragons like you!" He said, helplessly holding up his front talons as he continued to step back.

"Then _clearly_ you come from a place filled with some of the dirtiest scum on the continent." the MudWing responded, now having backed Ricky up against the exterior of the bridge.

"_Weeeell_…" Hidden began, but he was cut off by Xavier, who had clearly had enough. He started towards the MudWing, pointing a talon at her. "Alright, listen here miss. We're already in a lot of trouble right now and don't have time for your...WAHHHH!"

The MudWing quickly grabbed Xavier's talon and flung him over her back, despite being slightly smaller than him. He landed with a thud on the hull of the ship, dazed. Reggie began stepping back now, while Ricky rushed over to check on Xavier. Hidden stood to the side, trying to suppress his laughter.

The MudWing turned to the four of them with a stern expression on her face, causing them to flinch backward. "Alright then, I don't know _who_ or frankly _what_ you are, but I would suggest you come with me. Because _clearly_ if you were to fly off you would end up causing problems for both yourselves and everyone around you. Now shut your maws and follow, got it?"

Hidden stepped up to her. "Look, you seem to be handling this pretty well, and honestly if I was in your position I would probably be losing my mind right now, but…" The MudWing shot him a glare, and he backed away. "Okay okay! I get it! Moons, you're scary. Look, I just want to know who you are, alright?"

Ricky and Reggie both looked at the MudWing expectantly. Xavier groaned, rubbing the back of his head.

The MudWing sighed. "First of all, we're not _MudWings_, we're _EarthWings_. And my name is Lin."


	7. Chapter 7: Village of Silk Spinners

**AN:**

**This one's a bit of a long chapter, but not long enough to split up. Hopefully there isn't too much time spent on exposition here, and that it's not too clunky. I had a brief period of writer's block while working on this while I reworked some later parts of the story. I think the hardest part for me is trying to find the right way to phrase my story. I know what needs to happen, but conveying it in a way that is engaging, flows well, and doesn't have any out of character moments can be tough. I'm really excited to continue this story though, because I have some pretty cool ideas for later chapters. Now back to your irregularly scheduled fan-fiction.**

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**Chapter 7: Village of Silk Spinners**

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**The Earth Kingdom**

**Pyrrhia…?**

The Earth kingdom was absolutely stunning up close, with its lush forests and serene peaks. At first, Ricky had been completely transfixed by the wondrous scenery, but after two hours of trudging through dense foliage, it had grown quite old.

It had been Lin's idea to head through the forest instead of flying, something about avoiding the Empress's soldiers. Before they had left, Hidden had stashed most of their belongings somewhere in the Salvation, and all they had brought with them were their PDAs. They weren't of much use though, as they could get no signal nor internet connection. Even the clocks still read the time back at JSI.

Ricky pushed a large fern out of his way. He had started to fall behind the rest of the group, having to constantly check to make sure that Reggie hadn't fallen off his back. The human, still dressed in his janitor's uniform, lay sleeping on the SkyWing's red scales. Ricky looked back at him with envy, and gritting his teeth, picked up the pace.

_Come on Ricky, you can do this._

By the time he caught up, he found Hidden and Lin in the middle of a discussion. Xavier stood decidedly on the other side of Hidden as Lin, casting her wary glances. "Sooo… SandWings are called DustWings, RainWings are called JungleWings, and SkyWings are called SunWings, correct?" Hidden asked.

Lin sighed, she didn't seem too happy to be explaining such things. "Yes, that is correct." she said bluntly. "Are you done now?"

"Oh, wait! What about the ones from Pantala?"

Lin stared blankly at Hidden, confused. "What are you talking about? What is 'Pantala'?"

"You know, the other continent. Across the ocean." Hidden replied.

Lin squinted at him. "You're not talking about the lost continent, are you? Is that where you're from? I thought it was just a legend."

"Aw forget it." Hidden said, tired of that thread.

Ricky rushed up between the two. "We are from Pyrrhia!" he clarified, "Just a...different one. Honestly we're not too sure about it ourselves."

Lin eyed the human sleeping on Ricky's back, still somewhat put off by him. "Tell me SunWing, how did you teach your pet scavenger to talk like that?"

"My name's Ricky." he said, trying not to sound too irritated, "And Reggie isn't my pet. That's just..._wrong_. And could you please stop calling him a scavenger too. They're called humans. I mean, we stopped calling you a MudWing, didn't we?" Ricky immediately slapped his forehead, realizing he had just done so. "Sorry, but you get my point, right?"

"I've just never heard of..._humans_...having such intelligence. Most of the time they just make unintelligible squeaking noises."

Hidden and Xavier suddenly got mischievous looks on their faces. "Could it possibly be that you are simply incapable of speaking their language?" Hidden asked, switching to using Syllabic instead of Draconic.

Lin took a surprised step back, eyes wide. "Wha...how...you sound just like them!"

Hidden and Xavier started laughing, causing Lin to grow irritated. "Oh...this is gonna be _so_ much fun." Xavier said, also using Syllabic.

Lin huffed in annoyance, fed up with Hidden and Xavier's games. Xavier instinctively stepped behind Hidden when he noticed her frustration. "You should quit that squeaking." she said, "In fact, just quit being...you." She waved a talon dismissively at the four of them. "My village is just up ahead and we don't need to draw any unwanted attention."

A short while later, the group emerged from the thicket into a wide clearing. Stalks of bamboo lined the perimeter, curving slightly inwards as they rose to give the impression of a partial dome. Scattered about the clearing were a dozen or so wooden dwellings, decorated with vibrant red paper lanterns.

All throughout the village EarthWings went about their daily lives. A brawny one walked by the group pulling a wooden cart full of ripe vegetables, casting them a curious glance. Ricky looked over and saw a group of dragonets playing in a creek that wound through the clearing, splashing each other and rolling on the riverbed in laughter.

At the far side of the village was a sheer cliff, towering above the quaint buildings below. A waterfall gushed out of the cliff face, pouring into the creek bellow. Atop the cliff was a building unlike the rest in the village. It was tall, and built out of striking red wood, with multiple roofs that pointed at their corners. Ricky thought he had seen architecture like that before in a history book, a pagoda, if he recalled.

"_That _is the River Temple." Lin explained, noticing Ricky staring at the structure. "It's where the villagers go to pray for bountiful harvests, good weather, that sort of stuff. My house is the one right next to the cliff."

They made their way down one of the dirt pathways, eliciting a few stares from the villagers. Ricky noticed Xavier looking around nervously, eyeing the villagers with suspicion.

"Should we be worried about all of them...staring at us?" he asked.

"We don't usually get many visitors who are not EarthWings, in fact, we don't usually get many visitors here at all." Lin explained. The group stepped onto a small cobblestone bridge that crossed over the river.

"Come on Xavier," Hidden said, wrapping a foreleg around Xavier's neck. "You've gone up onstage every other week for Kaizo matches. Why so paranoid?"

Xavier pushed Hidden's leg off of him, frowning. "That's different! Back then we were in Pyrrhia, _our_ Pyrrhia. Here, we could be on an entirely different _planet_ for all we know!"

A few more EarthWings were starring now, and Lin had to shoot Xavier and Hidden a glare to shut them up. Ricky winced, he didn't want what happened on the Salvation to happen to him anytime soon.

They passed by a building with a large ramada attached to it. Beneath it sat a group of EarthWings, busy spinning silk into various beautiful garments. One of them waved to Lin, calling her attention.

"Hey, Lin! Who've you dragged in this time?" they shouted.

Lin groaned. "Just some lost travelers," she said, not even bothering to look at the EarthWing. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

"This doesn't have anything to do with that explosion we heard earlier, does it?" they asked.

This time Lin turned to the EarthWing, an expression of tedium written across her face. "What do _you_ think." she said bluntly before stomping off toward her house.

The EarthWing shrugged and waved as Hidden and Xavier started off after Lin. Ricky was about to follow, when the EarthWing called out to him.

"Hey, SunWing! Nice pet you got there!" they said with a friendly smile on their face, gesturing to the sleeping Reggie on Ricky's back.

"Th-thanks." Ricky said. He sighed, and ran forward to catch up with the rest of the group.

"So what is this place anyway?" Xavier asked.

"This is Fallside village, a small farming village that specializes in cultivating silk and producing garments and other commodities for trade." Lin explained, gesturing to a series of stacked trays beneath one of the buildings. Ricky could see a writhing white mass filling each one, and shuddered.

"Once the war started Empress Moorhen began switching many villages to wartime production. Ours happened to slip through the cracks and fall into obscurity. I doubt the Empress even knows this place exists!" Lin continued, a hint of pride in her eyes.

"War? What war?" Hidden asked.

"The War of DustWing succession of course, between sultanas Burn, Blister and Blaze? The one which ravaged Pyrrhia for _twenty years_? Don't tell me you haven't heard of it?"

Hidden scratched his chin. "We learned about a Sand...er..._Dust_Wing civil war that took place sometime in the 60s, but I don't remember it lasting more than 4 years. And what's this about sultanas?"

Lin shook her head, tired of having to explain everything to the three of them. "Whatever, we're here anyway."

They had in fact arrived at Lin's dwelling, a small one story cottage that was dwarfed by the rocky cliff face right next to it. Stepping inside, the group was greeted by an EarthWing who stood by a brick hearth at the back of the building, busy cooking some kind of noodle soup in a crude iron cooking pot.

"Oh, hey Lin!" he said, "Who are these fine fellows?" He seemed to be a few years older than Lin, possibly seventeen or eighteen, with deep brown scales and a pale brown underbelly.

"Everyone, meet my brother, Tai." Lin said, gesturing a talon towards the EarthWing. Tai grinned, waving at the newcomers.

"So, are these friends of yours Lin?" Tai asked.

"Not even close." Lin replied, watching as Hidden, Ricky and Xavier began settling themselves down.

The house was barely able to fit the five of them. Hidden and Xavier sat around a low square table at the center of the room, and Ricky walked over to a pair of mats on a lowered section of the floor, laying Reggie upon one of them.

"Hey! Is that your pe-" Tai began, but he was abruptly cut off by Ricky.

"He is _not_ a pet. He is a _human_, named _Reggie_, and he is his _own person_."

Tai took a step back. "Oh, sorry. I was just…"

"No, it's fine." Ricky said. "This place is _so_ different from home, it's a little jarring sometimes."

"True words brother." Hidden said, resting his head in one of his talons.

Reggie suddenly began to shift, and let out a faint moan. "Ugh...what time is it? I didn't oversleep again, did I?" He looked up at the group of dragons surrounding him and the thatch roof high above his head. "Oh, right." he said, seemingly remembering the situation they were in.

"Lin! Lin! It just spoke! Can you believe that!" Tai exclaimed excitedly, practically hopping up and down.

"Yes, I know." Lin replied, her steely expression unbroken.

Hidden turned to Reggie, smirking. "You slept so long, you missed seeing the village Reggie!" he said, gesturing to one of the glassless windows at the front of the house.

Reggie quickly pulled himself up onto his two legs and scrambled up onto some crates by the window, peering out at the serene village beyond. "WOAH! This is totally awesome guys! It's like we've been sent back to the medieval ages or something!"

Hidden abruptly slammed both of his foretalons onto the table, getting the attention of everyone in the room and nearly causing Reggie to fall off of his perch.

"Speaking of which…" he said, "I've boiled down the three most likely theories as to what's happened to us, so listen up.."

Ricky and Reggie both gathered around the table with Hidden and Xavier, while Lin and Tai stood to the side.

"The first possibility is time travel." Hidden began. Xavier cast Ricky and Reggie a confident glance. Hidden continued. "While I doubt that we've traveled back in time, as the histories and geographies of our Pyrrhia and this don't match up in the slightest, as Xavier mentioned back at the Salvation, there's the chance that we've been flung far into the future after some kind of apocalypse has destroyed all modern civilization and drastically altered the landscape."

Xavier piped up, interrupting Hidden's explanation. "Maybe the Salvation was meant to save the world from whatever destroyed society as we know it, and our stealing it doomed everyone!"

Hidden shook his head, "As I was about to say, I think this theory is a bit of a stretch, and the second is the most likely to be true."

Tai turned to Lin, whispering in her ear. "Do you know what they're talking about, because I'm completely lost."

"Not a clue."  
"The second possibility," Hidden explained, "Is that we've traveled to an alternate timeline, similar to ours, but different."

"So...the multiverse?" Xavier asked, skeptical, but interested.

"Yes, exactly, and if we want to get home we have to figure out how to pilot the ship back to our own timeline." Hidden said excitedly. Ricky had a feeling that Hidden didn't plan on returning home immediately if that was the case.  
"But wait, what about the third theory?" he asked.

Hidden turned to Ricky, frowning. "That we've died and gone to the afterlife, but I _highly_ doubt that's the case."

_I hope that's not the case…_ Ricky thought.

Suddenly, the group heard a loud crash outside. Ricky rushed over to the window, seeing an EarthWing soldier harassing the EarthWing with the vegetable cart from before. He'd thrown the cart over, scattering its vegetables on the ground, and was menacingly backing the hapless EarthWing into a corner. Another armor clad soldier stalked down the dirt paths, his hardened glare scanning the area.

"Oh no. It's the Empress, isn't it." Tai nervously asked, backing up into the corner of the room. "She's sent her troops after you guys, hasn't she?"

"Well, we _did_ kind of tear up her lawn, with our spaceship, in a way." Hidden commented.

Lin pushed Ricky aside and looked out the window, cursing under her breath. "Alright, you four follow me out the back door. We can lose them in the fore-"

She turned to see Ricky calmly striding towards the door at the back of the house. He had an idea. A stupid idea, but something inside of him told him it was the right one.

"Hidden, Xavier, come on." he said, "Let's go turn ourselves in."

"WHAT!" Xavier shouted, nearly flipping the table over as he shot to his feet. "Are you nuts?! Why would we turn ourselves in!"

Hidden thought for a second, and nodded. "Yeah, good idea Ricky."

"You too?! What's with you guys?!"

Hidden walked over next to Ricky and turned to face the RainWing. "If her soldiers are already here, then they've probably already captured the Salvation. If we turn ourselves in now, we might be able to peacefully negotiate with her to allow us to leave."

"But how do you know she won't just throw us in her dungeons forever?!" Xavier replied, one of his fore-talons clutching the side of his skull.

"She'll be far more likely to comply if we peacefully turn ourselves in instead of running away and causing even more trouble for her soldiers. We're going to have to confront them either way, soooo…"

Ricky had to admit that he hadn't thought of it that way. He'd just wanted the soldiers to stop tearing up Lin's village.

"_Ffffffine_." Xavier hissed, "But don't blame me if she locks us in her dungeons."

The three began walking out the door, when Reggie ran over to follow them. "You should probably stay here Reggie." Ricky said, "I don't know what they'd do to someone like you here."

Reggie stood there, silently watching as the three dragons slipped out the back door of Lin's house. They quietly made their way behind some bushes, and popped out onto the road from behind another building.

"Hey, mud face!" Hidden shouted. The soldier turned to him with a glare. "We're the ones you're looking for! Now get off your lazy tail and arrest us already!"

Xavier groaned and put a talon to his face, and the three held out their fore-talons to be cuffed. The guard skeptically looked at their outstretched legs, confused by the gesture, and quickly tied a thick rope around each of their necks. The other guard abandoned the EarthWing he was tormenting and tied their snouts shut.

The ropes around his neck and snout were incredibly rough and itchy, and Ricky couldn't help but feel like his plan might not have been the best idea after all. The dejected look on Xavier's face certainly didn't help. As the three were tugged into the air after the two soldiers, Ricky took a final look at Lin's house.

In the window, he could barely make out the faces of the two EarthWings and Human, watching as they were dragged off towards the Imperial City, home of Empress Moorhen.


	8. Chapter 8: The Empress of Earth

**AN:**

**Thanks QueenGlorytheFirst for the ideas! They're much better than the ones I had planned, and I never would have thought of Aztec JungleWings (RainWings)! The original plan for this particular world only had the MudWings being different, with every other tribe staying the same as they are in the books. This was because the MudWings had the least development in the main series, so I thought it would be interesting to give them their own distinct culture entirely different from the novels. It was only recently that I decided to make the other tribes in this world different from the books for consistency, and I hadn't even come up with many ideas for them. Sadly, the team won't be spending much more time in this world, and for now only the EarthWings will have been introduced. BUT I do plan on coming back here sometime in the future, and this and some of the other worlds featured in this story could lead into their own spin off stories focusing on those worlds. Hopefully my detailed description of the Earth Palace is enough for now!**

**And yes, there will be more worlds. Lots more. Stay tuned! ;)**

* * *

**Chapter 8: The Empress of Earth**

* * *

**The Earth Kingdom**

**Late Afternoon**

It took nearly four hours to fly from Fallside Village to the Imperial City, which was located much further south. Ricky had never flown such a long distance before, and merely thirty minutes in he already felt like he was about to pass out. If it weren't for the rough pull of the rope around his neck he probably would have. Hidden and Xavier seemed to be doing slightly better than him, though not by much.

"So is this Empress the nice kind that will hear us out or the nasty kind that will lock us away in her dungeon?" Xavier asked. He was met with a sharp tug on the rope around his neck as the guard leading him let out a savage snarl, glaring back at him. He whimpered, and none of the three uttered a single word for the rest of the flight.

Eventually they cleared the mountains and emerged above a massive hilly plain. Rice patties covered the landscape, their flooded fields glistening in the afternoon sun. Ricky thought he could see the tiny brown specks of EarthWings harvesting the fields and flying their bounty to various cottages dotted about the terrain.

The Imperial City loomed on the horizon. It draped across a massive hill, sheer stone walls encircling its perimeter. Within the walls was a sea of buildings, all painted vibrant colors of red and gold, and divided by winding cobbled roads. As the group flew overhead, Ricky could see dozens of EarthWings flying about and shuffling through the streets. At one point they flew past a district full of small shops selling the local cuisine. Ricky inhaled the scents of the food through his nostrils, marveling at the variety of smells he didn't even recognize.

_Maybe if we're let go, I can come down here and learn some of these recipes, _he thought, _That might make up for getting us all arrested._

The palace was situated atop a wide stone foundation that rose out of the center of the city. A steep flight of stairs led up the sloped side of the structure, leading to a wide pathway that ran straight towards the palace's entrance.

The palace itself was a sight to behold. Its main profile looked like three wide rectangular boxes stacked atop each other, growing smaller as they rose. The top was crowned with a pointy shingled roof similar to those on the River temple back at Fallside Village. The exterior walls of the lower level were painted the same vibrant red as many of the buildings in the surrounding city, while the upper levels were covered in a contrasting white plaster, and dotted by regular tiny windows.

The remaining surface of the foundation that wasn't taken up by the palace and pathway was covered in a lush garden. Plants from seemingly all over the world were gathered together, and a small stream ran around the palace, bisected by ornately carved wooden bridges. Ricky looked in awe at the scenery as the group landed on the pathway leading to the palace entrance. He noticed a small tube of bamboo being filled from a nearby fountain. Eventually it grew so full that it tipped over along the axle that it was attached to, making a distinct clunk as it bopped against the rocks below.

With a tug of their ropes, the three prisoners were led further on into the palace. The entrance to the structure was lined with thin red pillars. Ricky looked up as they passed between, noticing more of those paper lanterns strung far above their heads. He thought he could make out various symbols written on them, but he didn't quite recognize any of them.

After being led through a luxurious entrance hall, decorated primarily by a detailed marble sculpture of the presumed Empress, the group was led into the throne room. And there, on the far side of the chamber past rows of red columns and armored guards, was Empress Moorhen herself.

The Empress cocked her head and frowned as the prisoners were brought down the long red carpet before her. She was much larger than almost any dragon Ricky had ever seen. In a way she reminded him of some bodybuilders he'd seen on TV one time while flipping through channels. Though her size was coupled with an aura of elegance too, far more elegant than any of those brutes. She sat with her tail wrapped around her talons on a large purple cushion, a dazzling headpiece covered in diamonds and sapphires draped around her horns.

"These are the ones from that golden rocket I presume?" she asked one of the guards.

The guard nodded, casting a sideways glance at the three. "They just turned themselves in, though I ain't complainin'. Sure made our jobs easier."

The Empress nodded, and from her expression Ricky guessed she was considering this unorthodox outcome. _Maybe this crazy plan will work after all,_ he thought.

"Good. Now do untie them and take your leave, I would like to have a word with our..._guests_. Oh, and bring me those bags around their legs too."

Ricky looked down at the bag holding his PDA, and he saw Hidden and Xavier doing the same. Both guards ganged up around him, and Ricky quickly slipped his bag off of his leg and handed it over. Xavier did the same, wincing as the polyester satchel was ripped from his talons.

Hidden didn't take his off, though. For a second Ricky worried that he would fight back, but instead he simply stood there glaring as the guards gruffly unlatched the bag's strap and carried their possessions over to the Empress. The guards finished by untying the ropes around their necks and snouts, and sauntered off back down the red carpet.

Moorhen opened up Hidden's bag and pulled out his PDA, her eyes growing wide as she struggled to comprehend just what exactly it was. Hidden took a step forward, causing a few of the guards in the chamber to move closer to the three dragons. Moorhen waved them off, eyeing the small metallic tablet in her talons.

"DustWing," she began. It took Ricky a second to realize she was referring to Hidden. "What exactly _is_ this curious device?" She turned it between her claws, causing Hidden to grow ever more restless.

"It's _my_ PDA, and it's got a lot of important information inside so you should probably stop messing with it. Please…?"

"So it's like a scroll then?" the Empress asked. Hidden took a moment to process this before responding.

"Uh...yeah? But no...it's way more than just a piece of paper. Now can you _please_ stop fumbling around with it?"

Moorhen pressed the power button on the side of the device, causing its screen to flare to life. She hopped back a bit, nearly dropping it and causing Hidden to clench his teeth. She quickly righted herself and began staring at the screen in awe.

"_Three moons!_" she said, holding the tiny screen close to her face. She pressed the power button once again, causing the screen to flick off, and stuffed it back into Hidden's bag, beckoning to an EarthWing servant standing by a side door.

"Take these to Stoat." she said, tenderly handing him the three bags, "See what he makes of them." The three watched as the EarthWing carried their PDAs away out a side door, and Hidden sighed.

The Empress turned her attention to Hidden, Ricky, and Xavier, having regained her authoritative demeanor. "Now then, which one of you wants to tell me why you have come here and caused such damage to my kingdom?"

Hidden shrugged. "You mean the hole where our ship crashed? It should grow over eventually. It's not like anything important got damaged."

Moorhen frowned, displeased by Hidden's remark. "You know DustWing, _that hole_ could be considered an attack on the Earth Kingdom, and had you three not turned yourselves in so kindly I might feel inclined to deliver a fitting punishment."

"My name is Hid-" Hidden began, but Ricky quickly cut him off before he could further anger the EarthWing Empress.

"W-We didn't mean anything by it!" he said, "It's not even really our ship. And it's my fault that it started up and crashed here anyway, so if you want to punish someone, punish me."

"Ricky…" Hidden started, but Ricky shook his head. It was his fault they were here and it was his idea to turn themselves in, so if anyone was going to take the fall for it it would be him.

Empress Moorhen sat atop her cushion, scratching her chin. "Not your ship you say? Then whose is it?"

Hidden scratched the back of his head. "Uhh...well it _did_ belong to the Jade Science Institute, which you might not know about anyway come to think of it. That's why we crashed though, we had no idea how to fly the thing. Moons, for all we know there could be some kind of deadly security system in there that could vaporize you the moment you set talon in the wrong room!"

Hidden's comment certainly sent shivers down Ricky's spine, even if he didn't completely believe it to be true.

The Empress thought for a moment. "So you're thieves?" she asked.

"Well we didn't _mean_ to steal it, it was an accident."

Ricky winced.

"Thieves or not, I can't just let three dragons who mysteriously appeared in a golden rocket from the sky rome freely around my kingdom, now can I?" Moorhen said, motioning to one of the guards. "I've already sent a messenger to the other kingdoms, their leaders should be arriving within the next week to discuss the matter. Maybe then we can decide what to do about you."

Three guards stepped up behind the group. In a flash ropes were tied back around their necks and snouts, and they were being dragged towards a door on the right side of the chamber.

Moorhen smiled. "I must thank you for turning yourselves in, though I cannot overlook your reckless abandon so easily. I hope you find your stay in the dungeons tolerable."

And with that the doors to the throne room slammed shut behind them, and the trio were dragged away into the depths of the palace.

* * *

"I told you we'd be locked up! I told you! But _no_, instead we had to walk right into the talons of a powerful ruler who will probably have us executed in a week!"

Xavier had been pacing around their small stone prison cell for the past hour. Torchlight from the outer hallway flickered in through the metal bars that made up one of the cell's walls, casting an orange glow off of Xavier's lime green scales. One of his talons was sore from stubbing it on a circular metal grate inlaid in the floor.

"Hey Xavier, maybe if you keep walking in circles like that you'll wear down the floor enough for us to get out of here." Hidden remarked. He and Ricky were both lying on stone slabs situated on opposite sides of the room.

"This is _serious_! I'm not ready to die!"

Hidden got up and walked over to the distressed RainWing, putting a talon on his shoulder. "We're not going to die, not yet at least. The Empress just said she was inviting over some other leaders to have a little talk. And even then they won't be arriving for another week."

Xavier's breathing had begun to calm down, and the lime green in his scales began to dissipate. Ricky could relate to his anxiety, it was just like how he stress packed before big trips.

Xavier shook off Hidden's talon and looked out the bars of their cell. "We _have_ to get out of here though. And don't say we should wait and negotiate, 'cause that _clearly _didn't work last time!"

"Oh no, we're totally escaping." Hidden said, "They've got my PDA and I'm not giving them a week to break it."

Ricky listened to the two discuss escape plans for a moment while he took another look around their cell. There were no windows, unless you counted the wall of pig iron bars that stood between them and the dungeon's halls. The only furnishings in the cell were the two stone slabs, and the grate in the center of the floor. But that was fastened tight from the bottom, and all three of them had already attempted to move it to no avail.

Just then, the three heard talon steps echoing down the hallway. Hidden and Xavier moved away from the bars as an EarthWing guard tossed two pig carcasses into the cell. They landed with a splat on the grimy stone floor, causing Hidden and Xavier to back up in horror. Ricky turned away, trying not to gag from the stench.

"Eat up." the guard said, and was about to walk away when Hidden called out to him.

"Uh, don't you have any _real_ food here? I mean, you don't just eat a _raw carcass_."

The guard looked at them like they were crazy. "You either eat the pigs, or eat nothing." he growled, and he stomped off down the hall.

"I think I'm gonna be sick…" Xavier said, clutching his stomach as he tried to avert his eyes from the gruesome sight.

None of the three dragons so much as touched the "food" that had been brought to them. Ricky could hear his stomach growling, which only made him feel worse.

_Why did I have to turn us in… _he thought, clutching his empty stomach.

Another hour passed, when suddenly they heard another set of talonsteps coming near. These ones, though, didn't come from the hall outside of the cell, but instead reverberated out of the metal grate in the floor. The three gathered around the grate and looked down, taking care to avoid the dead pigs. At first all they could see was darkness, but soon the faint glow of torchlight began emanating from the floor.

"Hey dudes, you up there?" a familiar voice called.

"Reggie?!" Ricky shouted. Hidden and Xavier both quickly shushed him, and turned back down toward the grate.

"Yeah! And that scary EarthWing too!"

"My name is Lin. I _thought_ I already told you that."

Soon enough the green eyed face of Lin popped up just beneath the grate. She had shimmied herself up directly beneath it, barely squeezing through the vertical shaft. She pulled out some kind of metal tool that vaguely resembled a wrench and began slowly unfastening the grate. Within ten minutes, the grate was off.

"Well, are you coming?" Lin impatiently asked as she shimmied back down the shaft. Xavier didn't waste a second in joining her.

"Get me outta this carcass filled nightmare!" he happily exclaimed.

Hidden followed close behind. "Time for a jailbreak!"

Ricky took one last look around the cell, saw the pig carcasses rotting nearby, and slid down the shaft without a second thought.


	9. Chapter 9: Jailbreak

**AN:**

**Here's the longest chapter in this story yet (though probably not forever)! I could have tried to break it up, but there's not really a good spot to do that without releasing a bunch of really short chapters. I write all of these chapters on Google Docs before uploading them and I try to have at least three pages of text per chapter.**

**I've been pretty worried with each new chapter I upload, about the characters, pacing, and tone. Part of it is probably paranoia, though it would be great to see what everyone thinks of the story so far. Thanks again to QueenGlorytheFirst for your reviews, they're really encouraging!**

**Chapter 10 will be the final chapter spent in Lin's world for now, so stay tuned! I've got some exciting things planned for this story later down the line that I can't wait to share with you all!**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Jailbreak**

* * *

**Underneath the Earth Palace**

**Evening**

The tunnels that ran beneath the palace's foundation were pitch black, and _incredibly _smelly. Ricky felt the urge to pinch his nostrils shut, but considering the squelching muck his talons were stepping in, he didn't really feel like touching his face. Reggie rode on his back, as usual, and seemed to be quite glad not to be trudging through the grime below.

"So, not to be rude or anything, but how exactly did you sneak in here anyway?" Hidden asked, wincing as he shook some sludge off of a talon.

Lin, who had been leading them through the circular stone tunnels, turned back toward them, her torch casting a warm orange glow across her face. "What's it matter to you?" she asked defensively.

Hidden shrugged. "Just curious."

Lin sighed and turned back ahead. "I used to work as a guard here for a short time during the war." she bluntly stated, "That's all." The contemplative look on Hidden's face suggested that he wasn't satisfied, and even Ricky felt there was more to the story than that, but neither of them was foolish enough to press any further.

Soon enough the orange glow of the torch was mixed with faint streams of moonlight. The group arrived under another grate, which Lin promptly removed with her wrench. They shimmied their way up the shaft and arrived on a quiet street, lined with small houses that seemed to mirror the architectural style of the palace. The street was empty, thankfully, though Ricky wondered for how long.

"Alright, if we split up and fly away now, we should be able to make it out of the city before the guards realize you're gone." Lin explained. She started walking down the empty street, when Hidden placed a talon on her shoulder. She whipped her head around, glaring at the SandWing, who quickly leapt back.

"W-We can't leave yet!" he said.

"Why not." Lin growled.

"They've still got our PDAs."

"Your _what_?"

Hidden scratched his head. "Uh...it's hard to explain. But they're _really_ important and we can't leave here without them. I think she sent them to some guy named...Stoat?"

Lin slammed a talon on the cobbled road and swore under her breath. She then turned back to Hidden, glaring. "Listen DustWing, if you want to run back into the Empress' clutches then be my guest, but I _won't_ come save you again."

"So come with me." Hidden suggested, taking a defiant step towards the EarthWing.

"Ha! I don't think so. If I come with you then they'll know I broke you out, and I don't feel like being forced on the run." Lin said. "Your problems are none of my concern."

"Then why'd you break us out?"

Lin froze for a moment, before stomping right up in Hidden's face, scowling. "I only came back because my brother and your _human_ friend wouldn't shut up about it!" she growled.

By this point Xavier had managed to back himself up into a narrow alley branching off of the street, nervously watching the face off between the EarthWing and SandWing. Ricky had also backed up as well, with Reggie watching from his back. Yet Hidden hadn't budged, standing firm despite the obvious terror coursing through his veins.

"P-Perhaps…" he said, slowly pulling his head away as Lin menacingly leaned in closer. "But you also helped us back on the Salvation, _and_ when the soldiers showed up in your village. C-Care to explain that?"

Lin's scowl fell away as she slowly backed up from the SandWing, turning away from him. She looked down at the ground, sighing.

"_Ffffine_." she hissed, "I'll take you to Stoat." Hidden had started to relax, but quickly tensed up again when Lin shot him another glare. "But mark my words DustWing," she said, "if we're caught, the Empress will be the _last_ thing you'll have to worry about."

Hidden nervously nodded, and the two of them began walking down the street towards the palace. Lin turned back to the others. "Head straight that way past the city wall." she commanded, pointing in the opposite direction as where they were headed. "There's a large camphor tree out there, you can't miss it. We'll meet you there when we're done."

"O-Okay, sure." Xavier said, stepping out of the alleyway.

"Hold on!" Ricky said, running up to Hidden and Lin. They both looked back at him in confusion.

"I'm coming with you." he casually stated.

Lin shook her head dismissively. "You'll just get in the way SunWing." she said, "We can handle this on our own."

"No, I'm coming. It's my fault our PDAs were taken. Moons, it's my fault we're here in the first place! The least I could do is help get them back."

Hidden gave Ricky a concerned look. "It's alright," he told Lin, "I trust my brother."

Lin looked between the two for a second, not fully seeing the resemblance. "Just...try not to get in the way, alright?" she groaned, "And leave...uh..._Reggie_...behind."

Ricky grinned, and quickly walked over to Xavier. Reggie slid off his back, approaching

one of the RainWing's forelegs.

"Ya mind if I-"

"Not a chance."

Xavier held out a wing and Reggie stepped beneath it. "See ya soon." he told Ricky with a half hearted smile. And with that, he camouflaged himself, disappearing into the shadows.

Ricky listened to the sound of Xavier's talonsteps trailing away for a second, and then walked back to Hidden and Lin. The three flapped their wings and lifted into the sky, soaring off towards the EarthWing palace once again.

They glided above the shingled rooftops of the city, carefully navigating around some of the more active areas of the city. There didn't seem to be many soldiers on patrol either, though the occasional glint of armor sent shivers down Ricky's spine.

Their destination was not actually the palace itself, but rather a small cottage standing along a nearby street. Here, the buildings were a lot less crammed together, with small gardens set between them. Stoat's cottage was a quaint two story building with white plastered walls and a small gable roof hanging over the front entrance, held up by the same red pillars seen throughout the city. The lights were on inside, and the faint sound of someone humming could be heard through the walls.

A simple stone well sat out front of the house, with a complex contraption of gears and pulleys hanging a rope into it. Hidden walked up to it, inspecting the device. He pulled a lever attached to the contraption, and its many parts began spinning and whirring in quick succession. He stepped back and watched as the rope slowly carried a bucket out of the dark hole, filled with crystal clear water.

Ricky walked up to Hidden, and the two shared a smile. They walked up to the well and took turns rinsing the muck off of their talons. Lin rolled her eyes at the two, walking up to the front door. "When you're done there, hide up in that tree." she ordered, pointing at a leafy tree that stood next to the house. "Wait there until I give the signal, then slip in and grab your...your... whatever those things are."

"PDAs." Hidden corrected, clambering up into the tree with Ricky.

Lin scoffed and turned her attention to the door. She rapped on it three times with her talon, causing the humming inside to stop. The door creaked open, and she was greeted by a large EarthWing, about a head or so taller than her. He was noticeably thin, and wore boxy spectacles that seemed just a tad too small for him.

"Oh, hey there...uh...who might you be?" he asked.

"I run a...local shop around here, selling...jewelry." Lin lied, "I saw your well out front and thought it could inspire some great new pieces, and I was wondering if you could tell me more about it."

The EarthWing peeked out the doorway, seeing that his contraption had been used, and instantly perked up. "O-Of course! I'd be glad to show it to you! Just...one moment please!" Stoat disappeared back into his house for a second, and soon after he and Lin were walking over to the well. Lin shot Hidden and Ricky a quick glance, and the two silently crept down from the tree and into the house.

As Ricky was stepping into the front door, he overheard some of Stoat and Lin's conversation. "The Empress just sent me some incredible new devices to study, so I've been a little busy lately." Stoat explained.

"Is that so?" Lin asked, feigning interest.

"They aren't like anything I've ever seen before! The technology is just so advanced, it's like magic! These devices are probably the greatest thing to ever happen to me, the defining moment in my career as the Empress's head scientist!"

Ricky didn't hear the rest of their conversation, though he couldn't help but feel bad for Stoat. The EarthWing seemed so excited to study their PDAs, even if they weren't really his to study.

Ricky looked around at Stoat's house. It seemed to be better furnished than Lin and Tai's back in Fallside Village, though it would be hard to tell beneath the mountains of bizarre contraptions and miscellaneous machinery. Almost every inch of Stoat's house was covered in heaps of parts and equipment. Scrolls teetered in precarious piles and papers covered in messy sketches and notes were strewn about.

Hidden had already waded his way to the back of the room, standing in front of a wide desk. He was carefully inspecting his PDA in the light of a dripping candle that sat atop it. "Doesn't seem like anything's broken." Hidden commented. He sighed in relief, stuffing his PDA back into his bag and handing Ricky back his. "I guess he couldn't get past the pass code."

Ricky pulled out his own PDA, pressing the power button to reveal the wallpaper photo of himself, Hidden, and their father Bill. It had been taken nearly a decade ago, during a trip to Pantala. The three were huddled together on a warm sandy beach, wide smiles on their faces as the ocean waves crashing in the distance.

"You know Hidden," Ricky said, putting away his PDA, "I feel kinda sorry for Stoat. He seems like a nice guy, and a great scientist too, like you!"

Hidden smirked. "Yeah, well...he definitely can't have our PDAs, though I guess I could leave him with a little parting gift." He began sifting through a pile of loose papers until he found one that was relatively clear. He looked around for a writing utensil, but all there was to write with on the desk was a small inkwell, and no quill.

"I think you're supposed to write with your talon." Ricky suggested, pointing at the small pot of black liquid.

"Huh." Hidden exclaimed. He dipped a claw into the inkwell and began furiously scribbling on the paper. Ricky glanced toward the door, wondering how long Lin could stall for them outside.

_Come on Hidden, hurry up!_

"Alright, let's go!" Hidden said, flicking ink off of his claw. He started wading back toward the door, and Ricky stole a glance at his drawing. It seemed Hidden had drawn detailed schematics of a generator and light bulb. A small note in the corner read: **Needed our PDAs back, here's a little something for you to look into. Good luck! -H**

Ricky quickly followed after his brother, and the two slipped out of the house just as Lin and Stoat were about to head back. They scrambled back up into the tree as Stoat led Lin back to the front door, gushing about all of the practical uses of gear and pulley systems in everyday life.

"Well, thank you for your time. It's been..._very_...helpful." Lin said, briefly glancing at the two dragon's hiding in the tree.

"Oh no, thank _you_! Nobody ever asks me about my inventions, so it was a pleasure to be able to talk about them with someone." he replied. Lin nodded and they both waved goodbye. As she walked away from the house, Hidden and Ricky leapt out of the tree and joined her on the empty street.

"What's so important about those things anyway?" Lin asked, eyeing Hidden's bag as he fastened it around his foreleg.

"Our PDAs are like an...um...an extra limb where we're from. We can't go without them!" Hidden explained. "Trust me, you'd understand if you had one."

Lin paused for a moment, thinking. "You are some strange dragons, Hidden and Ricky." she said. "Come on, the guard will do another pass by your cell any minute now."

Hidden and Ricky nodded, and Lin took off into the sky. "She knows an awful lot about the palace for having only worked as a guard there, doesn't she?" Hidden asked.

Ricky chuckled. "If you want to ask her about it, be my guest. But I don't feel like getting walloped, _thank you very much_."

The two laughed for a second, and lifted off after Lin.

* * *

**North of the Imperial City**

**Early Morning**

****The sun had not yet risen as the three dragons soared over the rice patties dotting the landscape, and while it was certainly dark out, the light of the moons glistened off of the still waters and made navigation relatively easy. Eventually, Ricky noticed a large dark bulge on the landscape, which was most certainly the tree Lin had been talking about.

The camphor tree was _huge_, its branches reaching up as high as four fully grown SkyWings stacked on top of each other. It's trunk was likely twenty talons thick, if not more. As the three spiraled down underneath its mountain of leaves, Ricky noticed Xavier and Reggie standing beneath.

And an EarthWing.

For a second Ricky started to panic, thinking that a soldier had found them out. But as he flew closer he realized it was none other than Lin's brother, Tai. He seemed to be having some sort of discussion with Reggie, a goofy smile covering his face every time the human spoke. He turned to look at them as they landed beneath the tree, relieved to see his sister safe.

"Tai, I thought I told you to wait back in the village." Lin scolded, landing beside her brother.

Tai looked over at her, embarrassed. "Well, yeah...but then I got really worried about you, sneaking into the Empress's palace like that. So I came to make sure my sister made it out safely!"

"You're hopeless, you know that." Lin sighed, smiling.

_So she _does _have a softer side._ Ricky thought. He didn't dare say that out loud.

"So...what now?" Xavier asked as Hidden handed him back his bag. "We can't just go back to the ship, it's probably _crawling_ with the Empress's goons!"

"I don't think we have much of a choice." Hidden said, "That ship's our only hope of getting home."

"You could come back to the village!" Tai suggested, but he was quickly shot down by his younger sister.

"If we come back, then we'll just be putting everyone in danger." she explained.

"Wait, we?" Tai asked. Lin lowered her head, and he realized what she meant. "Lin, you're not coming home?"

"There's a decent chance that I was seen by someone. If I came back to the village, then I'd be putting you all at risk." she explained. Tears were starting to well up in Tai's eyes.

"B-But where will you go?!" Tai asked through his sniffling.

"I don't know." Lin said, staring up at the moons that hung overhead. "Maybe those dragonets at Jade Mountain will take me in. Either way it's my fault for helping these dragons."

"You did a good thing Lin." Tai said, wrapping a wing around her, "You shouldn't be ashamed of it."

"_I'm not!_ Though I am starting to have some second thoughts." She shot a glance towards the three dragons and human, standing there watching the melodrama unfold.

"You could come with us." Hidden suggested.

Xavier grabbed Hidden's foreleg and pulled him aside. "_Hidden! _Shouldn't you ask the _rest of us_ before making offers like that?" He turned to Ricky and Reggie for support.

"I'm cool with it." Reggie exclaimed.

Ricky thought for a moment. He had to admit that Xavier had a point, and Lin _was_ pretty terrifying. But she had also made herself an enemy of her own kingdom just to help them, and she didn't seem to have a place to go.

"Yeah, I'm cool with it too." Ricky said.

Xavier sighed, head hung low, and Hidden patted his back. "Come on, it'll be _fine_. The more the merrier, _right_?" he said.

"Alright, alright." Xavier said, pushing him off. "I swear one of these days you're going to invite a genocidal maniac onto the ship." The two shared a smile and turned to Lin.

"So," Hidden said, "what'll it be?"

"And what makes you think I would want to join you?" Lin asked defensively.

Hidden shrugged. "I don't know. We could show you how important PDAs truly are."

Lin let out a short laugh. "Hah! Yeah, good luck with that."

"Maybe you should go with them." Tai suggested, turning affectionately to his sister. She looked at him, slightly surprised.

"You _do_ know that means me going to some other world with a group of near strangers on a vessel far beyond either of our understanding? We might not see each other again for a long time." she explained. "I could just as easily go live in some remote settlement far away from the Earth Kingdom."

"At least you wouldn't be alone."

Lin thought for a moment. She started digging a claw into the soft earth beneath her. "Ugh, fine." she groaned. "I'll join you. Maybe then I can knock some sense into your thick skulls."

"Please don't." Xavier asked, backing up a bit.

Hidden held out a talon. "Welcome to the team Lin."


	10. Chapter 10: The Accident

**AN:**

**What's always interested me about the Wings of Fire series is its unique portrayal of dragons. Most of the time in media, dragons fall into three camps. The goofy ones often seen in media for little kids. The fantastical ones that you see in many fantasy novels, whether they be mounts or nature gods. And the monstrous ones that hoard gold and burn cities. But Wings of Fire is different, as it portrays them like normal people living in an imperfect society, though still in a medieval setting with magic and stuff. I wanted to take that idea to the next level with Hidden's home timeline, literally creating a version of Pyrrhia that is a bizarro take on our own world. I've even come up with a history for it that mirrors many of the events that took place in our world, but in the context of a thrice mooned dragon planet (wait...that didn't sound quite right...). You'll hear more about that later on down the line.**

**Anyway, this chapter is long, like I probably should have divided it in two long. But I didn't. Part of me just wanted to end off this visit to Lin's timeline in chapter 10, plus I couldn't think of a good title for the second half. Writer's block and self doubt have both still been problematic, though I think the main cause of that is the fact that this story is like my opus, and the standards and ambitions I've set fourth for myself are pretty overwhelming at times. It seems that every time I find even a **_**minute**_** plot hole in my story, my mind fixates on it and starts fretting over how to fix it. Because of this, I'm thinking of using the AN section for a "Behind the Scenes" of sorts, where I lay out my thought process for certain parts of the story on occasion. Perhaps it will help boost my confidence in this.**

**Thanks again to QueenGlorytheFirst for the review! I plan on having a few more individuals join the team, some of whom may be familiar, so stay tuned!**

**Enjoy the extra long chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 10: The Accident**

* * *

**Near the Salvation's Crash Site**

**Sunrise**

Ricky looked up at the soft shimmering of sunlight peeking through the forest, the rays bouncing off of the trunks of trees and casting long shadows beneath the foliage. The sun had just begun to rise as the group crept along the forest floor. Lin and Tai took the lead, silently guiding them through the dense overgrowth.

There was a sense of deja vu in the trek, reminding Ricky of when they had first arrived in this strange world. But with the Empress's army scattered throughout the area, hunting down their ragtag ensemble, there was a fear that came bundled with it. By now she had to know they'd escaped, and it was hard not to imagine that every available soldier in the Earth Kingdom had been diverted to their recapture.

"We're here." Lin said, pushing aside one last cluster of bamboo.

Past the treeline was a wide open plain, curving between the many towering peaks of the northern Earth Kingdom. The tall grass rustled in the early morning light, and small shrubs dotted the landscape.

At the center of the valley was the Salvation, still halfway submerged in the earth. The trail it had torn through the ground was still barren and raw, like a fresh wound. It was a disheartening sight to be sure, but what worried Ricky more were the EarthWings.

"I would guess that there's about one or two squads guarding the door you came out of," Lin theorized, "and at least three or four more circling the skies above."

Ricky looked up to see a couple dozen brown spots circling high above, undoubtedly Moorhen's troops.

"Are there any more we should worry about?" Xavier asked.

"They'll probably have more squads out patrolling the surrounding area." she said, cautiously looking back into the thicket. "So try not to draw any attention to us."

Xavier shrunk back, slowly nodding. "Y-Yeah, sure."

They started creeping around the edge of the forest, taking care not to step out of the leafy cover. Ricky trailed behind the rest of the group, head hung low. Reggie sat atop his back, marveling at the Salvation through the thin line of trees.

"Ya know, from here you can really get a sense for how stupid huge that ship is." the human commented. "Not like, _huge_ huge, but still pretty big, ya know?"

"Yeah, sure…" Ricky quietly commented. Reggie shrugged and laid on his back, gazing up at the leafy roof high above.

Ricky had fallen well behind the rest of the group, to the point where Hidden had fallen back to walk beside him. The two brothers silently walked side by side for a short while, before Ricky finally spoke up.

"Uh, Hidden?" he asked. Hidden nodded in acknowledgement. "I just...wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"What for?" Hidden asked, though Ricky figured he already knew the answer.

"Well, it's my fault we got into this mess. I'm the one who landed on the control panel and started up the ship, and now look where we are!"

Hidden sighed. "Look, Ricky." he began, wrapping a wing around his brother, "It's not your fault we're in this mess, okay. If anything it's more my fault since I'm the one who had the crazy idea to break into JSI in the first place."

"But-" Ricky started, but Hidden cut him off.

"But nothing." he said, "What happened on the bridge was a complete accident, it could've happened to any of us. And there's no use fretting about it now anyway, you'll just make yourself miserable." He waved a talon in the air, gesturing to the forest around them. "I mean, _come on_, we've just taken a ride on a _spaceship_ into what could possibly be an _alternate universe_! That's freakin' awesome! Enjoy it while it lasts Ricky, 'cause it's probably going to be a once in a lifetime opportunity!"

Ricky smiled. He was glad he had his brother there with him, he certainly made their situation a lot less stressful. Yet he still couldn't help but worry about the task at talon.

"What about the Salvation?" he asked. "We can't go home without it, and right now the Empress's army has it on lockdown."

Hidden donned a mischievous grin. "I _think_ I have something that could help with that." He bounded ahead toward the rest of the group, Ricky following close behind.

"Hey! Hold up!" Hidden shouted. The others turned back to look at him, frowning.

"_Quit shouting Hidden, you're gonna give us away!_" Xavier angrily whispered. "Is something wrong?"

Hidden shook his head, walking out towards the tree line. He gazed out at the Salvation, and then up at the surrounding mountains, lost in thought. "I have something that could help us reclaim the Salvation." he said. He turned back into the forest, a talon pressed to his mouth. "Um...this way!" he said, quickly bolting off into the forest.

"H-Hey, wait! You can't just-" Lin started, but Hidden was already disappearing into the mess of branches and leaves, leaving the group no choice but to keep up.

As Ricky stumbled his way through the overgrowth, he thought he heard the sound of talonsetps approaching. He hesitated for a moment, before quickly realizing that it was just a panda meandering along the forest floor. It curiously looked at Ricky, who quickly darted off, having fallen behind the group once again.

Reggie was hanging on to Ricky's back for dear life, tightly clutching one of his back spines as Ricky ducked and weaved through the woods. "Dude! Watch out!" he shouted, nearly being knocked off by a low hanging branch. "What do you think Hidden's got anyway? Is it some kinda weapon or something?"

Ricky had a faint idea as to what Hidden was talking about, he'd seen him packing it back in their apartment.

The group stopped at the base of another camphor tree, this one just barely taller than the trees surrounding it. Its wide crown of leaves cast a patchwork shadow over a small clearing surrounding its thick trunk.

Hidden reached into a small niche in the trunk's base, pulling out the bag he had brought with him to JSI. "I stashed this here shortly after we left with Lin." he explained. "It's a care package in case we got into any trouble...like now." He pulled out a light grey drone that was about the size of his head, its four propeller tipped arms folded in over its spherical core.

"What _is_ that thing?" Tai asked, walking up to take a closer look at the device in Hidden's talons.

"It's Bippy." Hidden explained, holding up the drone so the EarthWing could get a closer look. Tai brushed his talons gently along its smooth shell, staring at his reflection in the shiny plastic exterior.

"I've been working on suping this thing up for a while now." Hidden said as he unfurled the drone's four propeller arms, each one snapping into place with a soft click. Setting it down on a flat rock, he stepped back and pulled out a heavily modified dual stick controller, covered in exposed circuits and a tacked on PDA holder.

"Bippy, huh?" Tai asked.

"The name was my idea." Ricky yawned. He was starting to feel groggy, and the bags under Hidden and Xavier's eyes told him they were too.

_Come to think of it, _he thought, _we haven't slept since the night before breaking into JSI. Guess I haven't noticed with everything that's happened._

That said, if Hidden were tired, he certainly didn't act like it. Instead, he seemed quite jovial to be showing off his drone. He slid his PDA into the holder on the controller, plugged it into a USB port, and with the flip of a switch, the drone flickered to life. Its propeller blades began building momentum as it slowly rose from the rock.

Tai stood back in shock, a wide grin covering his face once again as he marveled at the flying contraption before him. "L-Lin, are you seeing this?" he excitedly said. "It's...it's flying!"

Lin didn't seem all too impressed. She slowly walked towards Hidden, eyeing the drone with skepticism. "How exactly is this mechanical bird supposed to help us?" she asked. "I don't think something so small could take out even a single one of the Empress's soldiers."

"Not a mechanical bird, a _drone_." Hidden corrected. "And I _thought_ we could take it for a little fly by those guards, maybe get a few of 'em to chase after it."

Lin thought for a moment. "Not bad." she said, causing Hidden to swell up with just a hint of pride. "But I doubt it could out-fly a fully grown dragon."

Hidden smiled. "You'd be surprised. I've managed to pack a lot more power into Bippy here than meets the eye." He held out a talon, and carefully landed the drone in his palm. "It's also quite maneuverable, so it's worth a shot."

Lin stepped towards the treeline, considering Hidden's proposal. She gazed out at the clearing, and the many brown dots high overhead. "Alright Hidden." she said. "Try not to screw this up."

Hidden sent the drone flying up above the group, and it zipped out of the tree line towards the Salvation. Lin and Xavier stood watching as it disappeared into the distance, while Tai and Ricky walked over next to Hidden, watching live footage from Bippy's camera streamed to Hidden's PDA.

"I-Is that…" Tai asked, pointing at the screen, which displayed the Salvation growing ever closer.

"Yep." Hidden replied, grinning.

The drone swept over the golden hull of the Salvation, maneuvering towards the airlock on the right side of the bridge. Surrounding the circular doorway were six EarthWings, clad in the same shiny metal plating they'd seen around the palace.

"Hey, what's that?" one of them said, turning and pointing toward the camera. Tai gasped as the words emanated from the device, despite the poor sound quality.

"Looks like some kinda big, metal bug to me." another soldier said.

"Well, is someone going to go _catch it_?" the soldier from before asked. Ricky guessed that he was the captain of this squad.

Another one of the soldiers began backing away, fearfully looking up at the machine. "I ain't touchin' it!" he said, "I'm not planning on getting stung!"

The captain grumbled something too quiet for the drone's mic to pick up, and glared directly at the camera. Hidden chuckled mischievously.

"Looks like they need a little encouragement." he said with a sly grin. With a quick button press Hidden activated an alarm he'd installed a few months back to scare Xavier. The harsh beeping was loud even from their end, and Ricky thought he heard Xavier groan upon hearing it.

The guards had backed away from the device apprehensively. Suddenly, the camera jerked forward as Hidden flew the drone between the soldiers, nearly ramming it into them. Ricky heard a few loud thumps as some of the frightened EarthWings dove to the ground.

Hidden smiled gleefully as he zipped the drone back and forth over the heads of the EarthWings. He steadied Bippy for another pass, this time aiming straight for the captain, but had to quickly veer away when they lunged at it, their talons missing it by a scale.

"You three come with me!" the captain shouted as the drone began gaining altitude. The camera angled down to show four of the soldiers lifting into the air. Hidden smirked.

"Time for phase two." he muttered.

The drone swept through the air, the EarthWing soldiers hot on its tail. At one point the guards seemed to have caught up to it, but Hidden expertly doubled back and shot off in the opposite direction, causing them to waste a few seconds reorienting themselves.

The drone continued upward, heading straight for the EarthWings circling high overhead. One of them seemed to have heard Bippy's alarm, as a faint voice could be heard calling out.

"Oi, Quake! What's goin' on down there?"

The captain, who Ricky now guessed was named Quake, responded fiercely. "Send two more down to the ship, I want the rest of you after that thing!"

"Looks like _somebody's_ having a bad day." Hidden said, chuckling. He had flown the drone by many of the aerial troops, and a quick look backward revealed a large group of EarthWings in hot pursuit.

"He actually did it." Lin mused. Ricky looked up from Hidden's PDA and walked over to join her and Xavier. Sure enough, practically every brown dot had trailed off in the same direction.

The beeping from Hidden's PDA grew louder as he and Tai joined the others at the treeline. "We'd better be quick." Hidden said, his eyes focused on the screen before him. "I don't know how much longer I can keep them occupied."

Lin nodded, and with no time to lose, the five dragons made a beeline for the Salvation. Hidden remained fixated on his PDA throughout the whole flight, only briefly glancing upward to see where he was going. It reminded Ricky of all the times they had been told not to text and fly back home.

_I guess it isn't _really _texting_, he thought.

The five swiftly landed on the Salvation's golden hull, surrounding the airlock and the four soldiers guarding it. The soldiers stepped back, their spears held out as they looked between the aggressors.

"Y-Your the ones the Empress is looking for!" one of them said. "Wait, was that metal bug just a-"

He didn't have time to finish, as Lin was on him in a heartbeat. She lunged forward, talons clenched into fists, and landed two decisive blows on his head. The soldier crumpled over, unconscious; a small trickle of blood flowing from one nostril.

The next guard over hesitated, allowing Lin to quickly down him with a downward elbow between his shoulders. The third guard charged at her, his spear pointed straight at her heart, but she rolled beneath it, sweeping his legs and causing him to tumble. Two fast blows and he too was unconscious.

The final guard looked at her in terror, dropped his spear, and immediately tried to flee. But Lin was too fast, and just as he had gotten himself into the air, she grabbed his tail and slammed him into the side of the bridge.

"Woah." Hidden said, briefly looking over the four unconscious guards strewn about the hull. Lin turned back towards the group, causing Ricky and Xavier to flinch back, and calmly walked over to her brother.

"Could you take them somewhere safe?" she asked, gesturing to the battered soldiers.

Tai nodded, walking over to the guard with the bloody nose and hoisting him up onto his back. Tai was larger than any of the guards, but just by a bit. It stunned Ricky to see how easily he held the other EarthWing.

Tai readied himself to fly, but hesitated, turning back to his sister. "Maybe I could come with you too?" he asked.

Lin shook her head. She stepped up to her brother, a sad smile on her face. "You still have a life in Fallside, friends and family waiting for you. I don't want you to lose that."

"Well, I guess this is goodbye…" he said, head held low.

"For now," Lin replied, "I'll be back before you know it."

Tai nodded, a single tear running down his face. He lifted off, slowly gliding down toward the nearby treeline.

Lin turned to the others, her expression now one of impatience. "Are we going to do this or what?"

The group hurried through the circular door and into the familiar looking bridge, the white lights which had once illuminated it now dimmed. It made Ricky briefly flash back to JSI, and the less than pleasant flight that had followed. The group gathered around the central console, Hidden sitting aside to focus on piloting the drone. Reggie slid off of Ricky's back to stand precariously on the console.

"Sooo...Ricky. You remember which button you pushed to make this thing go?" Xavier asked. Ricky shook his head. He didn't know how many buttons he'd pressed and levers he'd pulled when he'd fallen onto the console. It didn't help that none of them seemed to be labeled.

"Just start flickin' 'em!" Hidden shouted, still busy piloting Bippy. "The soldiers are going to catch up to me any second now!"

Ricky was reluctant to even touch the console after what had happened last time, and he gladly stepped aside to let Xavier have a go. The RainWing began nervously flipping switches and pushing buttons, his eyes rapidly darting across the array of controls. Lin tensed, looking out the window towards the surrounding valley. The soldiers could be back any second, and there was no way she would be able to take all of them on.

Suddenly, the bridge sprung to life as the familiar blue light spread along the walls. The group froze as the ship reawakened, and the airlock slammed shut.

_No turning back now…_

The ship rumbled, and slowly the world outside began to move. They were ascending, the ship's thrusters carrying them just above the messy crater beneath them. Ricky waited for the blue wormhole to reappear, but nothing else happened. The Salvation remained suspended above the valley, motionless.

"Welcome aboard captain, all systems online." the disembodied voice said over the intercom, causing Lin to look around suspiciously.

"Relax." Hidden said, "It's just a virtual helper or something." This didn't seem to make Lin any less tense.

Reggie looked down at the controls, then back up at Xavier. "What now guys?"

Xavier thought for a moment, hovering his talon over a set of rectangular buttons, and pressed one of them at random. A faint groaning sound could be heard from deeper in the ship, but otherwise nothing seemed to have happened.

"Nice going Xavier," Hidden said. "At least now I can get my drone back."

"What do you mean?" Xavier asked, approaching the SandWing. Ricky and Lin followed suit, leaving Reggie standing on top of the console.

"Hey! What about me!" he called, but the others were too fixated on Hidden's PDA to notice.

Bippy was on its way back to the Salvation, the hovering spacecraft growing larger and larger as it came nearer. The sounds of the wing beats of the soldiers undoubtedly following close behind were drowned out by the intense roar of the Salvation's bottom thrusters. Hanging off of the bottom of the vessel, facing backwards, was a wide ramp, leading into what seemed to be a hanger bay.

"Oh moons." Xavier said, groaning. "Maybe I can go try to close it?"

"Probably not the best idea to go pushing more buttons." Hidden said as he got up and began making his way to the back of the bridge, Lin following close behind. "Come on Xavier, let's go greet our new guests." he said.

"Wh-What?! Why me?!" Xavier asked.

"You can turn _invisible _dude." Hidden explained, "Plus, you're the one who pushed the button in the first place." He cheekily grinned, and Xavier groaned.

"Hold on!" Ricky called just as they were about to leave.

"Sorry Ricky, but you can't come with us this time." Hidden said dismissively. "We need you here to get us away the moment we have the hanger cleared."

"That's not what I meant." Ricky replied. "I'm just worried that there might be more soldiers patrolling the _inside_ of the ship."

"There shouldn't be." Hidden explained, "Not if Moorhen heeded my warning about deadly security systems."

"Wait, so that was a lie?"

"Oh no. It could totally be true."

Ricky shivered as he watched the trio leave the bridge, leaving him alone with Reggie. The SkyWing paced back to the central console, trying his best not to think about what could happen to the others. Reggie stood on the console tapping his foot.

"Looks like it's just you and me pal." he said, looking down at the many buttons and switches before them. He turned to look up at Ricky, smiling. "Thanks for letting me ride on ya."

"No prob." Ricky said, carefully examining the controls. "Though we really need to find a way for you to keep up with us on your own." He suddenly noticed a familiar looking lever on the left side of the console. Sitting on his hind legs, he leaned in to get a closer look.

The lever consisted of a thin metal cylinder, capped with a rectangular black topper with indents cut into it for a better grip. He touched it with one of his talons, lightly gripping the handle as he racked his memory.

"What is it?" Reggie asked, stepping over next to the lever.

"I think this is it."

"Are you sure?"

He wasn't, at least not entirely. The blinding light had made it difficult to see anything, though Ricky was sure that he had felt his elbow bump into a lever that felt just like this one. But it would be on him if he was wrong.

"Yeah." he said, "I'm sure."

He looked over at some of the consoles in the right trench, and noticed one displaying what looked like security footage on its screen. "When I give you the go ahead, push that lever forward with all your might." Ricky said, sliding down into the trench. Part of him still didn't want to be the one operating the ship.

"Uh, sure." he heard Reggie say.

Ricky approached the console in question and sat in front of it. He figured out how to cycle through the different cameras using the console's keyboard, and eventually landed on one monitoring the rear hanger.

It was a massive chamber, most likely part of the one they had walked through back at JSI. Six or so smaller shuttles lined the sides of the hanger door. They resembled flying cars, though were closer in scale to a bus and covered in heavy armor plating. Hidden and Lin had just arrived, with Xavier presumably still camouflaged.

The soldiers were there as well.

Most of the EarthWings seemed to be hovering just outside of the hanger, reluctant to enter. But such was not the case with Quake, who, with four other soldiers fanning out behind him, stepped in and began approaching the three dragons.

Lin seemed to be preparing to fight, though it was clear there were far too many soldiers for her to have any hope of victory. Hidden stood at her side, Bippy floating just above him.

Quake seemed to be saying something, though there was no audio coming through the system so Ricky couldn't tell what. Hidden said something in return, which must have really angered Quake, as the troops hastened their advance.

Just then, one of the shuttles sprung to life. It's wide rectangular headlight switched on, and its four lower thrusters began lifting it into the air. There didn't seem to be anyone in the cockpit, though Ricky figured that it was really just Xavier in there.

Two of the soldiers immediately fled, most likely afraid of getting vaporized on the spot. The other two, and Quake himself, simply stood in shock as the shuttle slowly hovered towards them. Lin took this opportunity and lunged at Quake, but he quickly rolled out of the way. The two began skirmishing with one another while Hidden hopped into the shuttle with Xavier, shouting something at the other two guards.

Quake managed to pin Lin, but before he could call to his troops to advance, Bippy beared down upon him. The drone swooped back and forth over his head, causing him to let go of Lin to swat at it. This was all she needed, and in one swift move, she smashed a knee into the side of his skull and sent him tumbling down the ramp. The two remaining guards chased after their unconscious general, carrying him out to the rest of the soldiers.

The hanger was clear, this was their chance.

"REGGIE! NOW!"

The Salvation jolted forward, and within seconds it was back in the blue wormhole, leaving the Empress' army back in the Earth Kingdom.

Ricky slid down to the floor, sighing with relief.

_We actually did it…_ he thought. He heard Reggie shouting in excitement up on the central console, and slowly got himself up. Looking at the console, he expected to see Hidden and Xavier celebrating too.

Instead he saw the shuttle they were in halfway out of the open hanger door, barely hanging on by a cord tethering it to its docking position.

Before Ricky could even think about doing anything, the cord snapped, sending the shuttle flying out into the wormhole.

Hidden and Xavier were gone.

* * *

**The Jade Science Institute**

**2:53 A.M.**

Bill sat alone in the lab, staring out of the glass wall at the empty hanger before him. The massive chamber, its walls lined with indented concrete and roof buttressed by criss-crossing girders, could have easily fit the entire Sandside Apartment Complex within its walls, pool included. Dragons in white lab coats flew about the chamber, taking readings and observing for possible damages. Bill knew they wouldn't find a thing though.

The Salvation was gone.

And his sons with it.

Just then, he heard the lab's door swing open. A female HiveWing wearing a lab coat and carrying an overstuffed clipboard walked in. Her scales were golden yellow, with black striped running all along her body.

"Oh...hey June." Bill said, still staring out the window. "What's the word from the higher-ups?"

He heard the HiveWing sigh as she shuffled through her papers. "It looks like progress on project Wings of Steel and project Twin Peaks is to continue as planned. Everything else is still up in the air though, depending on how much we're able to salvage."

"Salvage? Salvage what?" Bill asked, his head hung low. "The Salvation is gone, and so is everything that was in it." He swung his head back to look at the HiveWing, filled with a mournful rage. "I don't care about what's left to do. This whole project was a bad idea from the start, and now my sons are...are…"

He stopped, turning back to the window. His breathing was starting to become erratic, and he could already feel the sting of tears in his eyes. He took a deep breath, trying his best to regain his composure.

The HiveWing set her clipboard down on a nearby counter. She walked over to the forlorn SkyWing, sitting next to him in front of the window, her tail entwined with his. Bill could tell by her silence that she was trying to come up with something to say, but to no avail.

The two sat silently together for a while as Bill regained his composure. Once he felt he had calmed down enough, he turned to June, asking "Is there anything else I should know?"

June sighed once again, looking down at the tiled floor. "The board wants to speak to you face to face. They expect to see you within the next half an hour." She turned to him compassionately, her knowing smile helping ease the situation just a bit.

"Alright," Bill said, "I'll be up there shortly."

June nodded, and made her way back to the door. She picked up her clipboard, and the two shared one final look. The door shut, and Bill turned back to the hanger.

And the tears began to fall.


	11. Chapter 11: Separated

**AN:**

**This one's a bit of a shorter chapter. I got so pumped up after writing the last one that I just kept on going. This and the following three chapters are already pretty well planned out, so they should be slightly easier to write.**

**I'm also going to try responding to reviews directly now like Pt35 does in their story, it seems fun!**

**QueenGlorytheFirst - I'm not exactly sure who forgot to close the door, or if anyone even considered it in the heat of the moment. Don't worry though, because we're about to find out what happened to Hidden and Xavier now!**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Separated**

* * *

**Somewhere in the Multiverse**

Xavier didn't know what had possessed him to leap into the shuttle that morning. Usually it was Hidden who did all of the crazy reckless things, not him. Maybe he'd been overconfident in himself, maybe it was a spur of the moment reaction to their tricky situation.

Or maybe it was just sleep deprivation.

Either way, he'd neglected to consider the open hanger door, nor did he consider that the Salvation would rocket away so quickly and suddenly. Now he and Hidden were stuck in a tiny cockpit, spiraling out of the blue vortex.

Xavier desperately tried to turn the shuttle around and follow after the Salvation, despite the fact that his only prior knowledge of piloting spaceships came from sci-fi movies. Hidden rushed to the back of the shuttle, through a room that vaguely resembled the bullet train cars they had rode so many times back home. He stood staring out of a tiny window on the back door, watching as the Salvation disappeared into the distance.

Their residual momentum quickly expired, and soon the shuttle had fallen out of the vortex. They emerged just above a forest of pine trees, stretching out over a rocky mountainscape. The starry night sky spread out above them, the three moons hanging bright overhead.

Xavier pulled back on the U shaped control wheel, barely managing to pull the shuttle up as it brushed against the pointy treetops, and veer it down into a small alcove behind a gushing waterfall. The shuttle lurched, causing Hidden and Xavier to fall to the floor as it came to a crash landing on the rocky shore, the waterfall casting a sparkling veil over them as it fell into the mouth of a twisting river.

Hidden was the first one out, pulling a latch on the back door and swinging it open. He looked around, inspecting their surroundings as he stepped onto the shoreline. Xavier followed shortly after, crawling out of a small side door on the cockpit and rolling out onto the ground. He lay on his back, wings spread out over the earth, his scales a deep shade of green.

"Looks like we landed somewhere in the Claws." Hidden remarked, cautiously stepping out from under the overhang. He noticed a large fallen branch near the river, and started dragging it behind the waterfall.

"Wha...what are you doing Hidden?" Xavier yawned. He struggled to get himself up, nearly collapsing again out of exhaustion.

"We should try to hide the shuttle for the time being, that way nobody comes to mess with it while we're gone." Hidden explained as he tossed the branch onto the shuttle. It hit the top of the bridge with a clunk, and quickly slid off, clattering to the ground. Hidden sighed. "On second thought, maybe the waterfall is cover enough."

Xavier looked around, eyes half open. "Wait, where are we going?" he asked.

Hidden walked past him back into the shuttle, its headlight casting a bright halo on the rocky wall of the alcove, and after a little fumbling around figured out how to shut it off. "We need to figure out how to get this thing back to the Salvation, but beforetalon we need to scout out the surrounding area. That way we can make sure we'll be able to safely figure a way out of here without attracting any unwanted attention. We can't just wait around for the others to come save us, right?"

Xavier put a talon to his head, his scales turning a paler shade of green. "Oh no...oh no." he said, finally realizing the severity of their situation. "Ricky's back on the Salvation, and who knows what's happening to him! He's probably worrying himself crazy now that we're gone! He may think we're dead! Or maybe he's…he's…"

"Xavier, _chill_." Hidden said, walking over to the paranoid RainWing. Xavier felt his tension ease up slightly as Hidden sat down next to him.

"Ricky will be fine." Hidden continued, "I mean, he's the one in the giant spaceship with the terrifying MudWing."

"EarthWing." Xavier corrected, "And she was in the hanger too, remember? What if she got sucked out with us?"

Hidden paused for a moment, which certainly didn't make Xavier feel any better. "I'm not entirely sure…" he finally said, "But, judging by the fact that she was further back in the chamber than us and she wasn't sucked out immediately, I'd guess that there was an artificial gravity system in the hanger. Probably there so shuttles could depart while the Salvation is flying through the vortex. Our shuttle was in the air, so it must have been flung back when the Salvation took off, resulting in it being halfway out of the hanger, ergo halfway out of the gravity field. Whatever was tethering us then broke, sending us flying out of the ship. Of course there's also the possibility that Lin was hanging on to something for dear life, but I doubt she's stronger than something capable of dragging along a freaking space bus, albeit for a few seconds."

Hidden sharply inhaled once he had finished, taking a moment to catch his breath. Xavier watched him silently. He understood most of what Hidden had said, though that sort of stuff was out of his expertise.

"It's just a theory." Hidden said, standing back up and stretching his legs. "Now we should probably get moving. The sooner we make sure the area is safe, the sooner we can get some sleep.

The thought of sleep alone was enough to get Xavier moving, and after stowing their bags in the shuttle, the two stepped out of the alcove and into the sprawling coniferous forest beyond.

They walked along the mossy forest floor for a short while, carefully scanning the tranquil environment around them. The river meandered along beside them, its waters reflecting the starry night sky in a dazzling spectacle. Yet despite its beauty Xavier couldn't help but feel uneasy. He didn't know what to expect in a place like this, even if it didn't look all too different from the Claws of the Clouds mountains he was familiar with.

From what he remembered, the river they were following led out towards the Diamond Spray Delta. It reminded him of the Earth Kingdom, with its picturesque sceneries and primitive technology. He had only just started to get used to that place, before being abruptly thrown into somewhere new.

_I'm never gonna get used to this, aren't I…_ he thought.

Suddenly, Hidden stopped. He turned back towards the mountains, squinting up at the night sky.

"Wh-what is it Hidden?" Xavier asked, quickly camouflaging himself.

"Do you hear...wingbeats?" Hidden asked. Xavier froze. He'd been too busy trying to keep himself awake to notice anything, but now he could hear it too. A dragon, no, _dragons_, were heading their way.

Hidden quickly leapt into a large shrub, his yellow scales peeking out through the leafy cover. Xavier started up a tree, hoping his camouflage would be enough to hide him.

Three SkyWings descended upon the riverbed, scanning the area. They carried long metal spears, the pointed tips lined with pulsating red plasma, and wore smooth metallic armor, its edges accented by glowing red stripes. Dark visors covered their eyes, and the helmet of the largest of the three was adorned with a red mohawk made of the same plasma tipping their spears. Xavier guessed he was the leader of the group.

_These dragons have way more advanced tech than the EarthWings! _Xavier thought. _What kind of a place did we wind up in?!_

"I'm not seeing any SandWing." one of the armor clad dragons remarked, twirling his spear in his talon.

"I swear by the moons that I saw one! They might have had something to do with that explosion we heard earlier!" the smallest of the three SkyWings shouted, looking around frantically. "They were right here, by the river!"

The SkyWing twirling the spear scoffed, seemingly rolling his eyes behind the black visor.

The one with the mohawk stood still and silent, slowly shifting his gaze across the treeline. Xavier's heart skipped a beat as it fell upon the shrub Hidden was hiding in.

"There." he said; his cold, emotionless tone piercing Xavier's panicked mind. He looked down at his invisible scales, trying to suppress the greenish white spots that were appearing.

"Welp, ya got me!" Hidden abruptly shouted, popping out of the bush and catching the other two SkyWings off guard. The one with the mohawk simply smiled.

"I told you!" the smallest SkyWing shouted. The other stopped twirling his spear and groaned.

The mohawked SkyWing menacingly stepped closer to Hidden, his head stretching up to nearly twice Hidden's height. "Who are you SandWing, and what are you doing so close to Queen Scarlet's palace?" he boomed.

Hidden looked up at the SkyWing, trying his best to look calm in the face of such an imposing adversary. "The name's Hidden, and I was just out for a walk along the riverbank admiring the scenery. Haven't been to the Claws in a while, you know?"

The massive SkyWing grinned a toothy grin, holding up his spear so that its glowing red point rested right beneath Hidden's head. The other two SkyWings advanced forward, spears held at the ready.

"Stratus, check the area with your thermos. See if there are any others lurking about." the large SkyWing said.

The spear twirling SkyWing nodded, and pressed something on the side of his helmet. Xavier suddenly realized what they had meant by thermos, and carefully positioned himself on the opposite side of the tree as them. He held his breath, trying his best to hide as much of his body as he could behind the tree.

"Looks like there's a RainWing up there Alto." Stratus said. Xavier felt his entire body go rigid.

The large SkyWing grunted. "It probably just got lost and flew too far north, the lazy lizard." Alto said. Xavier would have been more offended had he not been so terrified. "The Queen doesn't have time for something so pointless." He turned back to Hidden. "But _you_ on the other talon, are coming with us."

Xavier crept back around the tree, and watched as Alto lifted off into the sky. The other two SkyWings advanced on Hidden, and he took one last look up at Xavier, still camouflaged amongst the branches above. Hidden helplessly smiled, and lifted off into the sky, the two SkyWings trailing after him.

Xavier sat in the tree, watching as the four dragons disappeared into the distance. A part of him desperately wanted to chase after them, to try and do something to help his friend. But the fear and anxiety inside of him was too great.

_What if Hidden has a plan, _he thought. _Hidden always has a plan, and I'll probably just get in the way. Or maybe he doesn't. Maybe that look was a call for help. I should follow them, and find out where they're taking him. But what if I get caught too? What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?!  
_He climbed down out of the tree, his scales rapidly fluctuating between bright greens and blues, and sat on the gravelly river bank, foretalons clutching his skull.

The sound of a vehicle pulling to a stop emanated from the other side of the river. Xavier whipped his head up as he heard a door being slammed shut, and talonsteps approaching from the woods.

_Have they come back?_ he thought, _I have to hide!_

But his scales wouldn't camouflage, instead staying a bright whitish green. He sat there on the riverbank, petrified with fear, as a familiar SkyWing dressed in a black leather jacket stepped out onto the opposite side of the river. The SkyWing stared at him, curiously, and Xavier couldn't believe his eyes when he recognized their face.

"R-Ricky?"


	12. Chapter 12: Queen of the SkyWings

**AN:**

**Here's another long chapter! I have some worries about this one, which I've listed at the bottom, but most of it might be me over stressing about this story again.**

**QueenGlorytheFirst - I'm glad you like that there's an alternate universe version of Ricky! Hopefully I did a good job characterizing him.**

**Pt35 - I was worried about the excessive stammering too, and I think I've got it down now. Thanks for reading my story! Oh, and thanks for the thermos/thermals thing too!**

* * *

**Chapter 12: Queen of the SkyWings**

* * *

**The Claws of the Clouds Mountains**

**Evening**

Xavier couldn't believe his eyes. Standing right there before him, across the shimmering river, was Ricky, or at least a Skying who looked just like him. There were a few notable differences of course, like the sleek black leather jacket tossed over the SkyWings shoulders, and a small scar on the right side of his face. But otherwise he looked identical to Hidden's brother; he even looked the same age!

The SkyWing took a step back apprehensively. "Uh, how do you know my name?" they asked, skeptically looking the pale green RainWing over.

"I-It's me...Xavier! Remember?" Xavier shakily asked, the sight of a familiar face was starting to calm him down, swirls of cerulean slowly spreading about his scales.

"I...don't think I know any RainWings."

Xavier thought for a moment, and sighed, coming to a realization. _Oh, right...it's probably this world's version of Ricky. Not the one I know._ He chuckled a little, finding the thought of meeting a different version of his long time friend from another timeline quite amusing. _What are the odds of that?_

"Sorry," Xavier said, standing up off of the riverbed, "You just look a lot like another SkyWing I know, who...also...happens to be named Ricky." He scratched the back of his head, sheepishly grinning.

"And here I thought Ricky was a weird name for a SkyWing..." Ricky mused. "Did you say they look _just_ like me?"

"Uh...yeah. It's hard to explain…."

The two stood silently for a moment, staring at each other across the river. Xavier didn't really know what to say. Hidden had just been captured, and now here he was conversing with someone who both was and was not his friend. Quite the conundrum to be sure.

"So uh...what are ya doing here anyway?" Xavier asked. It was all he could think of at the moment.

"I could ask the same of you." Ricky bluntly replied.

_He's got me there…_ Xavier thought. _Should I tell him though? I mean, he's Ricky, but not the Ricky I know. Can I even trust him?_

"But...if it makes you talk, then I guess I'll spill. I doubt Scarlet has employed any RainWings anyway." Ricky said. He waded out into the river, the water reaching halfway up his legs, and stopped on the other shore in front of Xavier.

"I was driving through the area when I heard a small explosion. Shortly thereafter I saw the soldiers diving down towards the river, and decided to go investigate. Looks like I was a little too late, though." Ricky explained, "You didn't have anything to do with that, did you?"

Xavier was still unsure about telling Ricky anything, though seeing as he was the first friendly dragon he'd met in this world, and he had no better ideas, he decided to tell him at least _part_ of the truth.

"Uh, yeah...me and my buddy Hidden crash landed somewhere near here, and while we were walking down the river the soldiers came and took Hidden away. I think they took him to see that 'Scarlet' you mentioned earlier." Xavier explained.

Ricky looked down at the ground, sighing. "Yeesh, it was that SandWing I saw them carrying away, wasn't it?" Xavier nodded. "Well, he's most likely been taken back to the sky palace, and if that's the case then you won't be seeing him anytime soon."

"M-Maybe I could go rescue him?" Xavier asked, changing the scales on one of his forelegs to blend with the rocky shore, but the look on Ricky's face told him otherwise.

"Listen RainWing, there's no way you'd be able to save your friend all on your own, even with camouflage scales. I'm sorry, but he's gone pal."

Ricky turned around and began walking back across the river, when Xavier called out to him. "Wait, what if you came and helped me?" he asked with just a hint of desperation.

Ricky paused and thought for a moment. He turned around and walked back over to Xavier. "Well," he said, "I was planning on heading over to the palace. I guess I could lend a talon, _if_ you tell me what's _really_ going on here, and who this 'Other Ricky' is. Got it?"

Xavier paused for a moment, debating whether he should agree or not. Telling this Ricky about the Salvation didn't seem like a large price to pay for his assistance, but he still wasn't sure if he was secretly an evil version of the kindhearted SkyWing he knew.

_But what other choice do I have?_

Xavier looked up at Ricky, and nodded. "Alright," he said, "Let's do this."

Ricky gave Xavier a nonchalant smile. "By the way, I never asked what your name was."

"Oh, uh...it's Xavier."

Ricky's smile grew a little wider upon hearing this. "Xavier huh? Looks like I'm not the only one here with a weird name!"

"It's not weird where I'm from!" Xavier replied, a smile growing on his face as well.

Ricky chuckled. "Yeah, well...we should probably get going. My ride's just past those trees over there."

The two walked across the river and into the clustered trees, stopping just before a large four-wheeled vehicle. It had a smooth, rounded off chassis, painted a sleek reflective black and accented with two thick neon orange stripes running front to back over the top. It's angular front headlights cast an eerie glow on the trees ahead.

"Say hello to the Striker." Ricky said confidently, "This beauty here can take you straight to the sky palace in minutes."

Ricky pulled a small remote out of his jacket, and with the push of a button, the vehicle's front pair of doors lifted up like a dragon spreading its wings, their hydraulics letting out a soft hiss. Ricky slid into the driver's seat and motioned for Xavier to join him in the passenger. Xavier slowly walked around the back of the Striker, admiring the sleek black fin protruding off of the back of it, and hopped in next to Ricky.

"Uh...Ricky?" Xavier asked, looking at the scattering of trees before them. "Not to be rude, but I don't think you can drive through the middle of the forest."

Ricky confidently smiled. "Watch me."

The doors dropped back down, and Ricky slammed his talon on the gas pedal, flinging the Striker ahead into the thicket. He quickly spun the steering wheel left, drifting along the leafy earth and narrowly running into a thick tree. A pair of pink fuzzy dice hung from the rear view mirror bounced around wildly as the Striker bobbed and weaved between the woody barricades with far more maneuverability than any vehicle Xavier had seen.

"So Xavier, what brings you so far out of the rainforest anyway." Ricky asked as he jerked the steering wheel left and right.

Xavier was too shaken to answer at first, helplessly gripping the front of his seat in his foretalons as he watched the forest twist and turn around him. "I'm not actually from the rainforest." he finally said through panicked breaths, "I uh...I think my friend and I are from another timeline."

Ricky began laughing as he drove the Striker off of a sloped rock, launching it into the air and causing the two of them to lift out of their seats. It landed with a jolt, and the SkyWing turned to him, an amused expression on his face.

"Look pal, a deal's a deal. So where did you _really_ come from?"

"That's the truth!" Xavier shouted over the rumbling engine. "If you don't believe me, then you can see the shuttle we crashed in for yourself. It's further upstream behind a waterfall."

"Is that so?" Ricky said skeptically. He spun the Striker around, following the river upstream towards the waterfall where Hidden and Xavier had landed. By the time they arrived, Xavier felt like he was ready to vomit.  
_Well...at least I'm not so tired anymore…_

Ricky hopped out of the Striker and walked up towards the waterfall. Xavier heard him let out an impressed whistle as he stepped behind, and soon followed suit.

The shuttle sat silently behind the waterfall, untouched since the last time Xavier had seen it. Ricky walked up to it and brushed a talon along its shiny silver hull, marveling at the technology on display.

"Moons, this thing makes the Striker look like a dragonet's toy!" Ricky exclaimed. He walked over to the cockpit and peeked inside the windshield. "So Xavier, how important is this SandWing to you anyway?"

"What, Hidden?" Xavier asked. "Well, we've been friends since we were two." He chuckled, grinning at the SkyWing. "Actually, he's the brother of the Ricky I know!"

Ricky turned back towards Xavier, shocked. "Wait, what! You can't be serious!"

"Yeah, Ricky's father Bill took him in shortly before we first met."

Suddenly, Ricky froze, seemingly distraught by Xavier's statement. "What's wrong?" Xavier asked, worried he had said something to offend Ricky.

"Oh, it's nothing, really. It's just, Bill was the name of my father too." he said, a sad smile across his face.

"You really are another version of the dragon I know."

Ricky stepped away from the shuttle. "Yeah, I guess so. So, what's this other Ricky like?"

Xavier thought for a moment. "Ricky? Well, he's probably the most friendly, kindhearted dragon I know."

Ricky chuckled. "Kindhearted? A SkyWing? Now I've heard everything." he said, walking back towards the waterfall. "Come on, we've gotta go save your friend. I mean, I wouldn't want my brother from an alternate universe to be executed, now would I?"

Xavier chuckled and followed him out of the alcove. The two of them piled into the Striker, and Xavier braced himself as it shot off into the night.

* * *

**SkyWing Capital City**

**Midnight**

The Striker quietly wove its way through the darkest alleyways of the SkyWing Capital City. Towering buildings loomed all around them, their black and grey exteriors sprinkled with flashing neon lights and flickering holograms. Occasionally, they would pass by some shady looking dragons, sulking about the gloomy streets, but they always shrunk away when the Striker drew near.

Ricky had been actively avoiding any of the more open roadways, growing tense whenever a passing patrol swept by. Xavier felt the same, though something told him that it was for different reasons. He watched as a pair of SkyWings slunk away into a side alley, cautiously eyeing the Striker as it passed. He still wasn't exactly sure if he preferred this timeline over Lin's, what with how quickly Hidden had gotten captured here.

_On the one talon, the technology here is far more advanced, even more so than our own timeline, _he thought, gazing out between two buildings at one of the more lively streets. _But on the other talon, that tech could make rescuing Hidden much more difficult…. _He looked over at Ricky, whose eyes darted warrily across the road ahead. _At least SkyWings here are actually called SkyWings, and not...well, whatever they were called in the Earth Kingdom._

"Hey Ricky." Xavier asked, "So uh, why is it that everyone hides when you drive by?"

"Let's just say that I have a...reputation...around here, and leave it at that, okay?" Ricky said. Xavier nodded, not wanting to push any further. "We're almost there anyway." he continued.

High above the city skyline rose the sky palace, a massive square tower stretching above the city. The tower's slightly slanted walls were sectioned by thick layers of red glass, marking each of the palace's floors, and four sharp spires crowned the corners of the tower's square roof. Four smaller towers sat adjacent to it, one on each side, connected to the main tower by bulky metal beams.

The Striker had arrived at the base of one of these towers, parking in a back alley to the side. Xavier cautiously stepped out of the Striker and looked out at the structure, its steel plated base erected in the center of a small courtyard. There didn't seem to be any guards around, and the tower was covered in faded graffiti, depicting the names of various street gangs in dripping, bubbly letters.

Ricky walked up beside Xavier, locking up the Striker behind him, and pulled out a flat circular device with a glowing blue center. He tapped the device's center with a talon, causing a blue hologram of the palace to flicker into existence. He pointed a talon at one of the four surrounding towers. "Right now we're here," he explained. He moved his talon to point at the uppermost glass layer of the main tower. "And we need to get here."

The two of them looked up at the massive central tower of the sky palace, its apex casting a dark shadow over the starry night sky. "Now, normally we would have to deal with armed guards _and_ security cameras on our way up." Ricky continued, "_But_ I know a safe way there." He turned to Xavier, his expression serious. "You have to follow my every move _exactly_, got it?"

Xavier nodded, though his scales were already starting to turn a bright green as he nervously looked out of the alley at the smaller tower. "Something tells me that this isn't your first time sneaking into this place." he commented.

"And it certainly won't be my last."

Ricky quietly slipped out into the courtyard, Xavier close on his tail, and the two stopped next to a small grate built into the base of the tower. Xavier was slightly confused when Ricky pulled a small metal hammer out of a pouch hidden under his wing, but a quick button press reconfigured it into a wrench, and Ricky got to work unfastening the grate.

"Hidden would _love_ that." Xavier exclaimed as Ricky set the grate on the ground. The two of them crawled into the small tunnel beyond, it being just barely large enough for the two of them to shimmy through. Beyond the tunnel was a large vertical shaft, about three times as wide as Xavier's wingspan, and presumably running up the height of the tower. The only light came from the grate they had entered from, leaving the rest of the space pitch black.

"Relax." Ricky said, noticing Xavier's hesitancy to exit the tunnel. "It's not an elevator shaft, if that's what you're thinking. This tower is only really here to buttress the main structure. I think they had plans for it originally, but never finished with them. Lucky for us, they also didn't finish installing the security system, so if we fly up at the right angle we should be able to reach the top without being spotted."

With that the two launched themselves into the air, flying single file up the tower, sticking close to the wall where they had entered. The tower seemed far taller from the inside than the outside, and the complete lack of lighting caused Xavier to nearly run into Ricky twice. He let out a sigh of relief when they arrived next to another tunnel near the top of the tower.

After crawling through the cramped space and unbolting another grate, they arrived just beneath one of the large beams connecting the outer towers to the center one. Ricky climbed out of the tunnel and hovered in the air below the beam, watching as Xavier clumsily did the same. The two glided just beneath the beam, Xavier camouflaging himself as an added precaution, and landed on a small ledge jutting out of the side of the main tower, hidden in the shadow of the brace.

"_This is where we split up._" Ricky whispered. Xavier turned to him, both surprised and worried.  
"_Wait, already? B-But I can't get Hidden on my own! Not here!_"

"_Sure you can_," Ricky whispered, already unbolting another grate on the wall next to them. "_The throne room is just through that doorway up there. All you have to do is climb up onto the ledge above it while staying out of sight of the guards, and you'll have a complete view of the place."_

"_And then what? How am I supposed to rescue Hidden from there?"_

"_You're not. The soldiers should be bringing him in from the lower prisons soon. Just figure out what they're going to do with him and meet me back by the Striker._"

"_But what if he's executed on the spot!_"

Ricky smirked. "_Trust me, Scarlet wouldn't find that _thrilling _enough._"

He slid into the tunnel and fastened the grate back into place, leaving Xavier alone on the side of the palace. He looked down at the sprawling cityscape far below, the neon buildings dwarfed by the titanic sky palace. Cold winds drove past him, chilling his scales, which were starting to show hints of forest green. Steadying himself, he focused on maintaining his camouflage, taking in a deep breath and closing his eyes. When he felt he was ready, he wrapped his prehensile tail around a pipe running alongside the beam and swung himself up out of the shadows.

Two SkyWing guards clad in the same red and black armor from before stood in front of the entrance to the throne room, plasma tipped spears held at their sides.. A small lip above the door provided just enough space for Xavier to stand on his hind legs. He silently landed, back pressed against the red glass, struggling to keep his scales camouflaged. Thankfully, the guards didn't pay him any mind, and after taking a moment to calm down, he slowly turned himself around to look into the chamber.

The inside of the throne room was nothing like the red and black fortress exterior. The floor was lined with polished grey stone bricks, swirls of sparkling gold inlaid into them. Marble statues of the SkyWing Queen in various regal poses lined the red glass walls of the chamber. There were two other entrances, one directly ahead of Xavier and one to his right. To his left sat the throne, forged of solid gold with veins of glowing red plasma swirling up through it.

And there, upon the gilded throne, was Queen Scarlet herself.

The SkyWing Queen sat lazily atop her throne, looking rather bored. She wore a wide array of jewelry, from shimmering silver rings to twisting gold horn bracelets, and even what looked like rubies embedded into the scales on her neck. She seemed slightly smaller than Empress Moorhen had been, but _far _more menacing.

Xavier silently yawned, the sleep deprivation kicking in once again. He didn't know how long it would be before Hidden was brought before the Queen, and already his hind legs were starting to wobble.

Just as he was about to close his eyes and fall asleep against the glass, two burly SkyWing guards flew down outside the entrance to his right, a familiar SandWing in tow. Xavier quickly pressed an ear against the glass as the three walked inside the throne room, Hidden marveling at the luxurious interior.

"Wow, nice place you got here." Hidden said, his voice muffled through the glass, "How much tax money did it cost to build?"

One of the guards sharply tugged on a chain attached to a metal collar around Hidden's neck, causing him to stumble over a bit. Xavier grimaced, noticing similar bands clamping his wings shut.

"You're a feisty one SandWing, but you should really learn your place. You do stand before Queen Scarlet of the SkyWings, after all." Scarlet said in a condescending tone.

"You ain't my queen."

Xavier thought he saw smoke come out of Scarlet's nostrils as she glared at Hidden, but she quickly regained her composure. "Tell me SandWing, what were you doing wandering about my kingdom, and so close to my palace too?"

Hidden shrugged. "Just got lost really. I mean, why would anyone want to be near this dumpster fire?"

Scarlet's rage only continued to fester as she clenched her talons into fists. "Oh, I'm going to enjoy watching you get torn to shreds in my arena." she said, a wicked smile on her face.

"Arena? You mean that big ring out there with all the towers?" Hidden asked, "What, do I have to fight someone?"

Scarlet chuckled, and Xavier guessed she was already imagining the pleasure of watching this insolent SandWing die. It made him sick to his stomach.

"You will have to fight my other prisoners to the death. If you win four matches, you get to fight my champion. Beat it and you're free to go." Scarlet sneered. "Thrilling, isn't it?"

Hidden thought for a moment, making the face Xavier knew to mean he had an idea. "Yeah right. Ain't nobody got time for that!" he said, "I wanna fight this 'champion' now."

Xavier resisted the urge to facepalm himself. _Of course, of _course _that's what Hidden would say!_

Scarlet grimaced, and was about to respond when a SkyWing messenger rushed into the throne room from the entrance opposite Xavier. Scarlet gave him an irritated glance as he rushed up to her side, whispering something in her ear.

"WHAT!" Scarlet roared, causing the messenger to stumble backwards. "How could a _putrid_ scavenger steal my treasure?! _Somebody _is going to pay for this!" She paused, thinking for a moment, and one of the guards asked something Xavier couldn't make out through the glass.

"No," Scarlet said, a scowl etched into her face, "I want to kill this creature myself." She turned back to Hidden, smiling viciously. "Well SandWing, if you really want to die sooner then I guess I'll grant your wish. Tomorrow morning you'll fight my champion. But I must warn you, _nobody_ has ever survived against it."

"Thanks Queeny!" Hidden shouted, prompting the guard with the chain to yank him down to the floor. The two dragged Hidden out of the throne room, and flew off towards a massive ring of cylindrical spires on the other side of the city. Xavier had seen that building on the way to the palace, and wondered what it was for. Now he had a sinking feeling that he knew.

Scarlet scoffed, marching off of her throne towards the doorway Xavier was hiding above. The RainWing froze, every muscle in his body going rigid as the SkyWing Queen stepped right out beneath him. She looked out towards the mountains in the distance, scowling, and took off into the air, three guards trailing close behind her.

Xavier watched as they disappeared over the glowing cityscape, and when they were completely out of sight, he silently slipped back onto the ledge beneath the beam, hidden amongst the shadows. He sighed, his camouflage dropping as his scales shifted to a pale green. He laid down on the platform, his mind racing.

_What do I do? What do I do? Okay, calm down. I just have to make my way back to the Striker and tell Ricky what I heard. He should know a way to get Hidden out of the arena, right? But...Hidden's fighting the champion tomorrow morning, and he doesn't even know how to fight! Come to think of it, I don't either! What are we going to do...Hidden's going to be killed and I'm going to be stuck here...for eternity. I've just gotta...get back to Ricky...and...figure things out from there…_

Xavier slumped over, his head falling to the cold metal ledge, unable to combat his sleep deprivation any longer, as Hidden was dragged away to certain doom.

* * *

**AN:**

**So if it's not totally clear, this timeline is an edgy cyberpunk version of Pyrrhia. I've also been trying to describe Xavier's scale changes more, since the story is now from his perspective. I'd be nice to hear what you think about this new timeline and if I'm portraying it well enough. I'm also a little concerned about certain character moments, like if Hidden seemed too out of character in smart mouthing Scarlet like that (I originally planned for him to smart mouth Empress Moorhen too, but figured that would contradict their plan), or if Ricky seems too similar to Lin right now. I do have a few bits of character dialogue that I think can help explain these actions in the next two chapters, and many of these worries will probably subside once they are drafted and published.**

**I'd also love to see what you guys think awaits Hidden in the arena, though I doubt you'll guess what I ****_really_**** have in store. ;)**

**Until next time!**


	13. Chapter 13: The Champion

**AN:**

**AP Exams are coming up, and there might be a bit of a longer wait between this and the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy it, as it's my first time writing a significant fight in this series (trust me, there are more to come).**

**Pt35: I'm glad I've piqued your interest, though I'm a little worried it may drop in the future when the team visits timelines with magic and/or inter-dimensional treasure dungeons. ;) **

**I can't promise much of the DoD in this timeline, though I did have the idea of using this and other timelines as the basis of spinoff stories in the future. I'm pretty focused on Salvation for now though, so who knows?**

**QueenGlorytheFirst: You were halfway right in you're guess, and I hope you like what I came up with for Scarlet's champion in this timeline. With each chapter I post it seems I get really worried that it won't live up to expectations, even this one, so it's nice to see that others are enjoying it. Perhaps I'm too worried about writing novel quality literature when I should be more focused on having fun.**

* * *

**Chapter 13: The Champion**

* * *

**The Sky Palace**

**Sunrise**

"Hey, RainWing! Wake up!"

Xavier's eyes slowly crept open, the sound of wingbeats drowning out the peaceful silence of sleep. He squinted, noticing a bright red female SkyWing hovering in front of him.

"I swear, you RainWings will sleep just about anywhere." the SkyWing grumbled, looking to her left. A large number of dragons were flying off in that direction.

"Wh...what's goin' on?" Xavier groggily asked, looking over the ledge at the gathering tide of dragons beneath him.

"There's a fight about to start. Some idiot SandWing decided he wanted to fight the Queen's champion. Not that a lazy RainWing like you would know."

"HIDDEN!" Xavier shouted, shooting up to his feet as he looked out towards the circle of spires in the distance.

"Huh, so you do know? Not that I care." the SkyWing bluntly said before flying off with the rest of the dragons.

Xavier looked over the edge at the city below. He had no idea if Ricky was still out there, though it wasn't hard to believe that the SkyWing had gone on his way without him. He shook his head, and, out of options, dove off of the ledge to join the profusion of dragons.

Xavier changed his scales to a dark red, hoping that the other dragons would mistake him for a SkyWing. He continued over the city rooftops, the arena's circle of countless spires looming over him. Each one looked just wide enough for a single dragon to stand atop it, and Xavier wondered what their purpose even was.

He landed on a wide balcony hanging off of the circular arena wall. Dragons lined up behind three gateways, sealed off by burning red bars of plasma and guarded by the same guards Xavier had seen around the palace. They stood, spears held at the ready, receiving small amounts of shiny metal plates Xavier assumed to be currency before opening their gate to let the customer through.

Camouflaging himself, Xavier walked just beside a slim orange SkyWing. He nervously fiddled with the money in his talons, until it was his turn to pay. Dropping the metal plates into the guard's talon, he stepped through the now open plasma gate, Xavier silently slipping through with him just as it slammed shut. Xavier paused for a moment, waiting for any sign that he had been caught by thermal imaging cameras, but nothing happened.

_Looks like they really don't expect a RainWing to sneak in here, huh?_

Beyond the gates was a wide, crowded hallway, most likely running the entire circumference of the arena. It's walls were lined with small shops selling snacks, beverages, and a wide variety of other merchandise. He passed one stall selling large plastic signs with slogans like "Finish them!" and "Smoke 'em out!" written on them in bold red and black letters. He shuddered, the thought of his friend's murder being turned into a spectator sport making him sick to his stomach.

Xavier slowly walked away from the stalls and towards an open gateway into the seating area, still camouflaged. As he stepped out of the crowded hallway and into the massive arena, his ears were bombarded with the raucous noise of rows and rows of dragons, all impatiently awaiting the slaughter about to unfold. SkyWings, SandWings, and MudWings all crammed together, some nearly climbing over others for a better view, and all with a lust for blood burning in their eyes. The ring of spires stretched high above him, caging him in this psychotic nightmare.

Xavier slowly stepped down a walkway running between the rows of seats, the incessant noise and looming arena walls making him feel slightly dizzy. His tail accidentally bumped into the leg of a SandWing, causing them to look down in confusion at what invisible force had hit them.  
He arrived at a small railing running around the edge of the seating area. Dragons hung over the edge of it, bending over the vast sandy circle of the arena in anticipation of the upcoming match. Xavier didn't pay them any mind, instead watching as two guards brought down a familiar yellow SandWing from the top of one of the spires. They tossed Hidden to the sandy arena floor as an announcer began shouting over an intercom.

"Ladies and gentlewings! Before you stands Hidden of the SandWings, a dragon filled with so much moxie, he actually _wants_ to fight the champion!"

The arena erupted in a cacophony of laughter.

"Now his wish is granted, as he takes the place of Horizon to face the wrath of the burning cloud of death, OUR CHAMPION!"

Large panels built high into the upper walls of the arena slid away, allowing three contraptions resembling thirds of a giant metal donut to float out above the arena floor. They began rapidly spinning high above the sandy pit as the clamps on Hidden's wings and neck were unlatched. They guards quickly flew out of the fighting zone, Hidden glaring at them as they left, and Xavier noticed the dragons hanging over the edge of the railing starting to back away. Looking up, he saw a thin red force field quickly dropping around the center of the arena, about to cut him off from Hidden.

He looked down at the lone SandWing, standing in the middle of the circle of bloodstained sand, and without a second thought leapt over the railing into the arena with him, just as the force field crashed down behind him.

"Xavier?!" Hidden shouted, watching as the RainWing quickly dropped his camouflage and ran to his pal. The spectators high in the stands let out a collective gasp.

"What's this?" the announcer shouted, "A _RainWing_ has entered the arena?!" The audience erupted in laughter once again, but Xavier couldn't care less.

"Hidden! What were you thinking!" he shouted frantically. "Wh-Why would you go and ask to fight the champion?! Are you crazy?!"

Hidden shrugged. "A bit, but it makes logical sense if you think about it." he nonchalantly explained. "I mean, you and I both know that I don't know how to fight very well, and there'd be now way that I'd make it through four fights _and _a fight against this 'champion'. Narrowing it down greatly increases my chances of success." He snickered, looking up at an ornately decorated balcony where the SkyWing Queen sat. "Plus irritating that pompous Sky Queen was _really_ satisfying."

Xavier looked up at the balcony as well, and got the impression that the SkyWing Queen was scowling angrily at them. Strangely, he also thought he saw a RainWing sleeping next to her, on some kind of weird tree, but it was hard to make out through the pulsating red force field.

"Well, no matter!" the announcer continued, "What are they going to do, sleep our champion to death?" The crowd's laughter grew ever louder, and Xavier felt his talons start balling up into fists. His attention was quickly stolen though, by a similar force field guarding a gateway in the arena wall suddenly dropping. A black smoke began emanating from the hallway beyond, slowly swirling along the ground in unnatural patterns. Xavier shuddered, and he saw Hidden eyeing the smoke with equal parts confusion and unease.

"Now then!" the announcer barked, "I think it's time for our fine contestants here to meet their opponent." The crowd roared, shouting and cheering as the smoke continued to pour forth from the hallway. It gathered into a thick black cloud, slowly forming limbs, a tail, wings and finally a head. Before them stood the rough outline of a SkyWing, formed of nothing but swirling black smoke.

"H-Hidden…" Xavier said tensely, "What...what is that thing?" He lifted a shaky talon to point at the dark form before them, his scales turning a green so pale it almost looked white.

"Well…" Hidden began, "It's either a magic smoke dragon or a swarm of nanobots. And I for one am leaning towards the latt-"

Suddenly, the champion lunged forward, forming into a dense cloud of smoke that barreled right towards the two gawking dragons. Hidden and Xavier were barely able to dive out of the way, the cloud singeing the tip of Hidden's left wing.

"IT BURNS!" Hidden shouted in an over exaggerated manner, clutching the scales that had been burned. It didn't seem like that bad of an injury to Xavier, and Hidden was quickly back on his feet. Only he could act so lighthearted in a situation like this.

The smoke dragon reformed on the other side of the arena, slowly stalking around the two terrified dragons. Xavier turned to Hidden, about to ask what they should do, when Hidden was abruptly knocked forward by a piece of metal hitting his back. Another piece slammed into the back of his head, and Xavier quickly realized they were pieces of armor similar to the ones worn by many of the guards around the palace.

"Wh-what the…" Hidden said, picking himself back up and examining the shiny metal armor now fastened around his chest and head. The two looked up behind them at the spinning donut piece as another piece of metal came flying towards Hidden.

Xavier quickly ducked out of the way as the sword flew past his head, straight into Hidden's outstretched talon. He looked over the sword, a small line of red light running up the straight blade.

"Huh." Hidden mused, watching the machines spin high overhead, "They're armories."

The two turned their attention back to their opponent, the smoke dragon now having stalked its way back to the other side of the arena. Xavier figured that Scarlet was making one of her wicked smiles now, eagerly awaiting the deaths of these two insolent dragons.

"Shields up! Orbitals ready! FIGHT!"

The champion didn't waste a second, immediately lunging straight towards Hidden. The SandWing quickly leapt out of the way, swinging his sword at the vicious swarm. It passed straight through, with no effect.

"Are you kidding me?" Hidden remarked, standing up on his hind talons, back hunched over, as he grasped the sword with both foretalons. The champion spun around, its amorphous form dashing towards Hidden once again. He rolled onto his back, flailing out his sword again, this time missing it completely.

Hidden looked up toward the orbitals spinning high above, angrily, and the champion quickly lunged forward once again while he was distracted. "Hidden, look out!" Xavier screamed, and Hidden dove to the side, narrowly avoiding a grisly death and dropping his sword in the process. He scrambled to pick it back up, the crowd overcome with laughter.

Xavier watched as the champion toyed with Hidden, darting past him as he struggled to stand on two legs, giving him just enough time to leap out of the way. The audience loved it.

He curled up into a ball, his scales now completely white. _What do I do what do I do what do I do?! I can't do this! I can't! Hidden's going to die and then I am and I don't know what to do! I have to do something but what can I do? How long can Hidden even keep dodging? I have to do something think think THINK!_

"Xavier, _chill!_"

Xavier felt a talon on his shoulder, and looked up to see Hidden standing right behind him. The champion had backed off, stalking around the arena as if it were plotting its next move.

"Freaking out's not going to help anything, it'll just get you killed faster!" Hidden said confidently, though Xavier could tell that he was worried too. He kept casting wary glances towards the champion, and was clutching a spot on his right foreleg where it had grazed him.

"We don't stand a chance against that thing!" Xavier cried.

"Yeah, you're right there. Maybe if those orbitals had given me better weapons, we'd have a better shot at victory." Hidden mused. The champion was creeping closer, and Hidden started to back away from Xavier.

"W-What do you want me to do?" Xavier asked.

Hidden shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm sure you'll come up with something." he said, and he bolted off to the other side of the arena. "You're a smart dragon Xavier, so quit worrying about the if's and just do something already!"

The champion quickly turned to pursue the SandWing, the dark cloud swirling into the air and forming into a dozen sharp spikes aimed at his heart. Xavier watched it corner Hidden against the arena wall, preparing to deliver the finishing blow.

Hidden;s statement had made Xavier remember all the times he'd been called a "Lazy RainWing" in this timeline. At the time, he'd been too paranoid to feel offended. But now, while Hidden was out there trying to fend off this terrifying beast and he was sitting here sniveling, he couldn't help but feel like they were right, in a twisted way.

_But what _can _I do? I mean, even _Hidden _has no idea how to get out of this!_

Suddenly, Xavier got an idea.

It was a crazy idea, a _Hidden_ idea, but it was all he could come up with in the milliseconds before Hidden's death. His mind immediately began racing to piece together every way this plan could go wrong, but he quickly shoved those thoughts aside. Like Hidden said, it was do or die time.

_Welp Xavier, you had a good run. _he thought pessimistically, as he shot up and dashed across the arena floor.

"Hey Smokey! Over here!" he shouted, standing up on his hind legs and waving his talons in the air.

The champion paused, and the spikes aimed at Hidden dissolved back into the swarm. It hovered in the air for a second, before slowly forming into a long, worm-like structure. It leaned over Xavier, the white scaled RainWing shivering as he stood before the beast. It's end split, and formed into a wicked maw poised to swallow Xavier whole.

Xavier nervously gulped, looking up at the monstrosity above him. The champion lunged, smashing into the arena floor as Xavier shot off into the air. He frantically flapped his wings trying to get as high as he could, but the serpentine cloud was hot on his tail, it's mouth held wide open.

He quickly rolled out of the way just as it was about to catch up to him, his back slamming against the force field. Pain shot up through his body as he limply fell towards the arena floor, but his landing was caught by one of the rapidly spinning orbitals.

_Phase one done, now for phase two._

He grasped a bar protruding off of the machine with his talons, hanging on to the rapidly moving machine for dear life as air blew past his face, stinging his nostrils. Looking over the side, he saw panels lined with a wide variety of weapons and armor. Swords, spears, and even what appeared to be energy blasters, all at his disposal.

The champion had begun flying alongside the orbital, and sent a blast of itself straight for Xavier's head. He ducked, the blast flying right over his head into the force field, and deftly grabbed a small blaster from the orbital. He pointed it at the dark cloud flying beside him and pulled the trigger.

A bright red bolt of plasma flew out of the gun's barrel, flying straight into the center of the swarm.

It connected.

The champion was sent flying back, a small hole briefly visible in the swirling black cloud. Xavier felt a rush of excitement run through him, looking down at the plasma pistol in his talon.

It wasn't long though before the champion was on him again, now more aggressive than ever. It rapidly bombarded Xavier with pieces of itself, forcing him to scramble to the opposite side of the orbital, the force field racing along just behind him. He gripped the side of the curved contraption, eyes tightly shut, listening to the sound of the swarm pounding the other side.

Xavier suddenly realized that the orbital was losing altitude, and let go just as the orbital smashed into the force field, grinding along it as it fell to the arena floor. He rolled to the ground, and watched the orbital crash down upon the sandy battlefield.

The crowd went wild, their raucous noise penetrating the glowing force field. The champion hovered in the air, wearily watching the two dragons on the battlefield.

"Xavier! _What_ was _that_?!" Hidden shouted, rushing over to the breathless RainWing.

Xavier slowly got to his feet, his head still spinning from the ride. "It's weak to...energy blasts…" he said, panting, as he held up the plasma pistol.

Hidden looked at Xavier, grinning. "Well this changes things."

Xavier nodded, having regained his bearings. He looked over at the smoldering wreck of the orbital, the other two still circling overhead. "Go search for more weapons like this in the downed orbital." he explained, trying his best to sound confident in himself. Judging by Hidden's expression, he'd say he hadn't done a really good job.

"Are you sure you want to fight that thing. I'm the one with the armor here."

"And I'm the one with the gun."

Hidden frowned, but nodded his head. "Alright," he said, walking over to the wreckage, "Go get em', but _try_ not to get killed."

Xavier chuckled. "I just rode a piece of a giant metal donut while being bombarded by a murderous smoke monster. I think I'll be fine."

He turned towards the champion, now back in the shape of a dragon, and cautiously watching him from the other side of the arena. Part of Xavier wondered if it had ever gone up against someone who could fight back, though the thought didn't make him any more confident. Contrary to his previous statement, his mind was ninety-nine percent certain that he would die here. He lifted the plasma pistol in one talon, shakily, as the champion readied itself to attack.

_Come on Xavier. _he thought, _You can do this...right?_

The champion rushed forward, a ball of black smoke, and Xavier fired a shot straight at it. It parted, separating into two smaller swarms that flew to Xavier's right and left as the plasma blast landed in the arena wall. The two swarms converged towards him, and Xavier leapt backward, firing two shots into them as they clashed and sending the champion reeling back.

The melee continued for what felt to Xavier like hours. Over and over the champion would rush in for an attack, only for Xavier to deflect it with a couple blasts from his pistol or dodge it by a scale. The physical exertion was taking its toll, Xavier's legs were killing him. He felt nigh ready to collapse, the threat of death being the one thing keeping him up.

A sharp burning sensation shot up through his right hind leg as one of the champion's attacks grazed it. His scales turned white as the pain snapped him to his senses. He was starting to falter; he couldn't keep this up for long.

"Xavier! Catch!"

Xavier looked up and saw a large cylindrical device soaring through the air, straight toward him. It slammed into his stomach, sending him flying backward under its weight. The champion readied to attack him while he was stunned, but was immediately tossed aside as Hidden slammed into it.

Xavier squinted, looking up at the SandWing as he stared down the dark monstrosity. A bright blue energy shield was emanating from a band strapped around Hidden's left foreleg. He turned to Xavier. Grinning.

"Sorry if I sound too much like Reggie but, _dude_! This thing is totally _awesome_!"

The champion rose up behind him, and Hidden was barely able to pull up his shield as it began bearing down on him from. It repeatedly smashed into the shield, Hidden lying on his back, curled up behind it. "Xavier, shoot it already!" he said through gritted teeth, the sound of the crowd's cheering dampening his voice.

It took Xavier a second to realize what he was holding in his talons. He slowly got up on his hind legs, foretalons grasping the device tightly, and aimed it straight for the champion. The cloud had risen itself high into the air, preparing for a final strike at Hidden. The SandWing shut his eyes, bracing for the ensuing impact, and Xavier pulled the trigger.

Time seemed to slow down for just a second. Xavier was thrown back as a continuous beam of blazing hot plasma shot out of the cannon, slamming straight into the amorphous mass of smoke, or nanobots, or whatever Scarlet's champion was. The swarm was sent flying backwards into the glowing red force field, briefly transitioning back into the shape of a dragon as it writhed, before exploding into a thin black mist, spreading throughout the enclosed space.

The crowd fell dead silent, and the force field dropped, allowing the mist to spread out into the seating area. It was over.

Hidden and Xavier had won.

Xavier dropped the plasma cannon, it's barrel still steaming from the blast, and rushed over to Hidden, who was still lying on his back on the sandy floor.

"Hidden! Are you okay?" he nervously asked.

The SandWing groaned, pressing a button on the band on his foreleg that retracted the energy shield. "Yeah...I think so." he wheezed. "I almost poked myself with my own tail barb though."

Xavier sighed, and helped Hidden up to his feet. The two of them looked around the arena at the near silent crowd. Soft murmurings swept throughout the arena, which were eventually eclipsed by one _very_ angry Sky Queen.

"Guards, seize them!"

Xavier looked up to see Scarlet standing on the edge of her balcony. Smoke billowed from her nostrils, mixing with the unnatural mist that filled the air. Her golden eyes gleamed with utter hatred.

The remaining two orbitals receded into the upper arena walls, and dozens of SkyWing soldiers began lifting into the air around the arena floor. Hidden and Xavier stood tail to tail, warily watching the guards encircle them.

"So uh, you think we're gonna have to fight them?" Hidden asked, but Xavier didn't respond. His attention was drawn by the familiar engine sound coming from one of the gated off corridors extending from the arena floor. A white strip of light gleamed from behind the red force field guarding it, and in an instant, it exploded, leaving a stream of smoke and embers in its wake.

The Striker blazed through the dark veil, sending the soldiers scrambling as it drifted across the sand to a stop next to the victors. The passenger door lifted, Ricky looking out at the two from behind the wheel.

"Don't just stand there like idiots! Get in!"

"_Ricky_?!" Hidden asked, shocked at the sight of his brother.

Xavier sighed. "I-I'll explain later." he offered. The soldiers were already charging toward them, spears poised and blasters blazing. Without further question the two hopped in the Striker with Ricky, racing back down the corridor with an army of SkyWing soldiers on their tail.

* * *

**AN:**

**So how was it? Did the arena and champion come across well enough? Did Hidden and Xavier seem too good at fighting? This was the first true action scene piece in the story, and it was tricky to get used to.**

**Fun fact, my original idea for Smokey Peril was for her to simply be a dragon made of magic smoke, but in hindsight that didn't make much sense in the context of the edgy cyberpunk version of Pyrrhia, so I changed it to nanobots. I even came up with an interesting backstory with Kestrel, though it's irrelevant to this particular story.**

**I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and be sure to stay tuned for the next chapter of Wings of Fire: Salvation!**


	14. Chapter 14: Much Needed Assistance

**AN: Finally finished with AP testing and here with the last chapter of this timeline!**

**QueenGlorytheFirst - Your question should be answered in this chapter! :) Hope it's not too abrupt.**

**Pt35 - That's exactly what I was hoping for, especially early on in the story like this! I was a little concerned about leaving each timeline too quickly, but I think 4-5 chapters is a decent amount for each one. Surprisingly, while this one has one fewer chapter than the Modern Pyrrhia did, it actually has far more words! The next big timeline will be pretty crazy, and I'm planning on getting a little experimental with the writing.**

* * *

**Chapter 14: Much Needed Assistance**

* * *

**The SkyWing Royal Arena**

**Morning**

The Striker darted through the wide corridor that ran the circumference of the arena, narrowly drifting between rows of thick concrete pillars as it tried to outpace the four SkyWing soldiers chasing it. Two of them carried plasma pistols, similar to the one Xavier had used in the arena, their hot blasts of energy pinging off of the Striker's protective shielding.

"Don't worry guys." Ricky said as he focused on the treacherous road ahead, "Those puny blasters won't get through the Striker's shields."

"Keep your head, wings, talons and legs inside the vehicle at all times." Hidden said in a monotone voice. He and Xavier began snickering, but Ricky remained silent.

"Are you _sure_ that's an alternate version of our Ricky?" Hidden asked Xavier from the back seat. Xavier nodded.

"Trust me, he is."

Xavier cast a glance towards Ricky, who was still focused on the road ahead. He had diverted from the circular corridor, heading town a long straightway that ended at a wide floor to ceiling window. SkyWings leapt out of the way at the sight of the rapidly approaching vehicle, clearing the way to the red tinted barrier.

Xavier barely had enough time to brace himself as the Striker smashed through the glass, a cascade of shimmering red shards in its wake. He felt himself lift from his seat as the Striker began the long descent towards the city streets below. The relief he'd felt after their victory in the arena had washed away, the realization that they weren't out of the woods just yet quickly sinking in.

Ricky pulled a lever sitting in between him and Xavier, and the Striker suddenly jolted to a stop, hovering in midair, throwing Hidden and Xavier to their seats. Xavier picked himself up and stuck his head out of the window, looking out at the wheels of the Striker, now rapidly spinning horizontally as they let out a pulsating blue energy.

"Huh, a flying car." he groaned, recovering from the abrupt shock, "Cool, but isn't that a bit impractical?" He quickly pulled his head in as a plasma blast flew right past him. The soldiers were just above, diving down to capture their prey.

Ricky grinned. "How's this impractical?"

He slammed forward on the steering wheel, sending the Striker rocketing ahead through the towering skyscrapers of the SkyWing Capital City. Xavier was flung back in his seat, foretalons tightly gripping the edge of his seat pad. He watched the dark shadows of the skyscrapers whisk by, greys, blacks, and the occasional neon lighting all a blur, as the Striker twisted and turned its way between the many structures. Between Hidden's prior comment and the nauseating ride, it was starting to feel like he was at some nightmare theme park.

_This can't be real, right? Like it's all a dream or something? I mean, come on. COME ON!_

Xavier didn't know how long it was before the Striker was slowly setting down in another dark alley, a couple shady dragons slinking away into a nearby bar. His head was still spinning from the ride, and he was barely able to comprehend what Ricky was saying by the time they had touched down.

"Sorry 'bout that, I would've come to find you Xavier." he said, Xavier deftly nodding. "I guess the queen captured the Dragonets of Destiny or something, and there were a _ton_ more guards than usual because of it! I had to lay low for a while before I could come get you, and by then you were off at the arena."

"Wait...the Dragonets of what now?" Hidden asked, also recoiling from the wild ride.

"What, you don't have the prophecy where you're from?" The confused looks on Hidden and Xavier's faces answered his question. "Well, regardless, I've gotta say, that was some pretty wicked stuff you did back there. Scarlet only ever gave contestants useless weapons against the champion. I _never_ would have thought to hijack one of the orbitals like that!"

Xavier felt a slight sense of pride flow through him at Ricky's praise of their actions, but Hidden only seemed irritated.

"So you're saying that you saw the whole thing? Like, you sat there and watched as we got burned up trying to beat that thing and didn't _once _think to help us with your _flying car_?" he said. Xavier suddenly remembered the burns covering his body. There were many more than he had previously thought, small areas of sore and blistering scales all over his underbelly and legs, and the pain was starting to set in.

Ricky grew nervous at Hidden's accusation. "W-Well I wasn't just going to rush in there with that thing! It's not like I knew it was weak to energy blasts! I mean, from our perspective that thing was an unstoppable force of death!"

"Guys, relax. What matters is that we made it out alive and...mostly...in one piece." Xavier said, gripping an especially nasty burn on his right foreleg.

Hidden sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Though, we probably wouldn't have made it out alive had that thing not been fighting so recklessly, plus there were two of us...so…" Hidden stared out of the window, lost in that train of thought, and Xavier turned to Ricky, smiling.

"So...we should probably head back to the shuttle now, right?"

"Oh! That reminds me!" Ricky said, "I met this strange dragon from another timeline while I was in the palace."

Xavier and Hidden immediately perked up. "Are you sure?" Hidden asked skeptically.

"Yeah! I met her when I was crawling through those tunnels. Told her where your shuttle was, and she said she'd go take a look."

"Wait, you told a complete stranger where the shuttle is?" Xavier asked, "Are you nuts?"

Ricky turned to Xavier confidently. "Hey pal, I can tell when someone is trustworthy, alright? It's something I've gotten quite good at over the years. Come on, I'll take you to her, you'll see."

Xavier and Hidden both gave Ricky skeptical looks as he drove the Striker through the grungy city alleys, back to the waterfall where they had crashed the night before.

* * *

**The Claws of the Clouds Mountains**

**Early Afternoon**

The drive back to the crash site took the rest of the morning, with frequent stops to avoid roving patrols. Ricky explained that, while Scarlet would most definitely send out droves of soldiers to find them, her new prisoners were likely taking priority, so their escape would be easier. By the time they arrived back at the waterfall, Xavier had already started to get used to the pain in his chest and legs.

"_Finally_!" Hidden exclaimed, hopping out of the Striker to stretch his legs. He winced in pain, grasping a burn on his right thigh. "So uh, where's this strange dragon you told us about?"

Ricky nodded towards the waterfall, and a greenish yellow SilkWing with large blue wings stepped out of the gushing water. She wore a small cornucopia shaped device around her right ear, and thin, silvery jets were strapped to her sides.

"Who are you calling a strange dragon, Sandy?" she asked, frowning. Hidden completely ignored her remark, turning to Ricky.

"She's a SilkWing, that doesn't mean she's from another timeline." Hidden said.

Ricky shrugged. "She said she was, and it's not like I've ever heard of 'SilkWings' before this."

Xavier turned to Ricky, confused. With all the technology they had in this timeline, how could they _not_ know about Pantala?

The SilkWing cleared her throat, irritated at being ignored. "I'll have you know that I _do_ come from another timeline, thank you very much." She walked up to Hidden and slapped a piece of paper in his face. He flinched back, looking over it in confusion.

"W-What's this?"

"Instructions." she bluntly explained, "For how to fly that shuttle in there. _Properly_." She paused for a moment, looking between the two. "What are you morons doing in this timeline anyway? I thought it was marked for noninterference."

Xavier sheepishly grinned, scratching the back of his head. "Heh heh...it's a long story."

Hidden smirked. "We _could_ ask the same of you."

The SilkWing scoffed, and turned to leave. "Like I'd ever tell you that." she indignantly stated, "The shuttle has a built in return system to take it back to the main vessel. I've already got it locked in, you just need to turn the thing on." She was about to fly away when Hidden called out to her.

"Hey, uh, what's this here about?" he asked, holding up the piece of paper and pointing to a list of numerical codes in the bottom right corner. The SilkWing groaned.

"It's a list of timelines that you should _avoid_ at all costs."

Hidden nodded. "Oh, thanks. Hey what's your name anyway?"

"It's Luna." the SilkWing said, "Now I'd advise you to regroup with whatever ship you got that shuttle from, and head back to your home timeline as fast as you can. There are forces in this multiverse you couldn't possibly fathom, and you idiots would probably anger every last one of 'em."

And with that, Luna lifted into the sky. She activated the thrusters on her sides, and they sent beams of energy forward, opening a hole in the fabric of the universe, which she promptly rocketed through, vanishing into thin air.

"Why don't we have stuff like that?" Hidden asked sarcastically as he walked back to Ricky and Xavier, both still standing by the Striker.

Xavier grinned. "Hey, she may have cool timeline-traversing jets, but _we_ have a spaceship." Hidden nodded in agreement, and the two turned to Ricky.

"So, I guess this is goodbye." Xavier said.

"For now." Hidden affirmed, and Xavier shot him a confused glance. "What? You think we're _not_ going to come back here? This place is awesome!"

"Yeah...I think we're going to have to disagree on that." Xavier stated, "Besides, didn't you hear what Luna said. There are forces out there that could be a real threat!"

Hidden paused for a moment. While he might not have been entirely showing it, Xavier knew he too was troubled by the SilkWing's words. Now they knew for a fact that there were other dragons out there who could travel the multiverse. They might not be able to simply flee to another timeline the next time they got into trouble.

"We still don't know how to get back to _our_ timeline yet, so it's not like we'll be able to help it if we run into any trouble like that on the way." he said, "We might as well just roll with the punches. And who knows, we might even find more allies to help us on our adventure! Speaking of which…"

Hidden and Xavier turned to Ricky expectantly, and the SkyWing backed up a bit. "Woah, sorry, but no can do." he said.

"Come on!" Hidden pleaded, "You can meet the Ricky from our timeline!" But Ricky shook his head.

"While it certainly sounds interesting, I've got obligations here that I can't just abandon."

Hidden nodded, albeit slightly deflated, and he and Xavier both shook talons with Ricky. They walked back behind the waterfall, waving as they went, and hopped into the cockpit of the shuttle.

"Alright." Hidden said, sitting down on the left side with Xavier to his right. "Let's see if what Luna said is true."

Propping up the sheet of paper against the windshield, Hidden flipped a couple knobs in between the two, causing the shuttle to spring to life. Small blue lines of light similar to the ones running throughout the Salvation spread across the glass strips in the walls, and the shuttle began hovering in mid air.

"Auto return systems engaged." a deep, mechanical voice said from speakers set in the roof of the cockpit. "Prepare for liftoff."

Hidden and Xavier shared a grin as the shuttle slowly turned around, hovering out of the waterfall. Through the windshield they could see Ricky standing atop the roof of the Striker, waving both foretalons in the air as they departed.

The nose of the shuttle pointed towards the afternoon sky, one of the moons barely visible amongst the sea of blue. Steams of energy launched from the shuttle, opening a portal similar to the one Luna had left through. The shuttle shot forward, and Hidden and Xavier were on their way back to the Salvation.

* * *

**The SkyWing Royal Arena**

**Prison Tower 17**

Clay sat atop the cold concrete cylinder that rose high above the arena, the wind chilling his scales. Before him he could see the other 49 prison towers, 37 of which held prisoners. Yes, he'd counted, as best as he could from such a distance. What else was he going to do?

The shackles around his neck, wings, and legs ground into his scales, pinning him to the tower. He'd tried pulling them off, but every time he did, he would receive a sharp electric shock, causing the bound limb to go limp for a few minutes. He sighed, staring out at the expansive network of plasma cables that bound each of the prisoners together, stretching out above the sandy arena far below.

The arena was now only filled with roving guards, the fighting having ended, the audience raving audience gone. The guards carefully scoured the area for the two escaped combatants, and their bombastic ally. Clay hoped that they'd made it out alright, even if he barely knew who they were.

A small smile crept across his face as he remembered the sight of the RainWing leaping into the arena to aid his friend. He knew he'd have done the same if any of the other dragonets were in trouble like that.

The chilling breeze suddenly warmed up a bit, only slightly, but enough for Clay to take notice. He saw a tiny cloud of black smoke swirling up the side of the pillar, twitching slightly, as if it had been wounded. It took Clay a moment to realize that it was the same smoke that had made up Queen Scarlet's champion, possibly a piece that had survived the explosion hours earlier.

He tried to back away from the smoke, now formed into the shape of a tiny dragon, but his bindings held fast, and a quick burst of electricity through his legs sent him tumbling to the ground. He watched tensely as the tiny smoke dragon approached him, the breeze carrying away tiny pieces of it as it shambled beside him.

Surprisingly, it didn't attack, instead taking shelter beneath one of Clay's bound wings. He looked at it with surprise, and even a bit of pity.

"You're the champion, right?" he asked. The smoke dragon looked up at him, before silently nodding its "head".

"Do you have a name?"

The champion didn't respond, instead huddling closer to Clay's side. He could feel the heat radiating from it as it brushed against his scales, though to his surprise he didn't seem to be burned in the slightest. Whether it was something to do with his scales or the champion's currently timid nature he had no idea.

"Hmmm…" he said, "How about Peril, does that sound like a good name?" He didn't know why he'd picked that name in particular, it just sounded right.

The smoke dragon looked up at him, and despite its lack of any noticeable facial features, Clay still felt like it was looking at him with a mix of astonishment and joy. A strong breeze swept past the two, and the tiny dragon huddled closer to Clay's side, Clay wrapping his wing around it to block the wind.

"Peril it is." he kindly said, "Now how the moons are we going to get out of here."

* * *

**AN: So what did ya think? There's certainly a lot more with this timeline to explore, what with the vastly different setting. For example, after writing chapter 13 I realized that I could have included references to prosthetic limbs, as that would have totally fit the cyberpunk vibes. I've got a couple of ideas for how it would play out in a spin off story, sort of an alternate version of the first arc, but Salvation's got my complete attention for the foreseeable future. It would have probably played out almost exactly like the original books plot wise, just with a cyberpunk coat of paint. That was at least before Hidden and Xavier showed up and uh...interfered. It would be interesting to see how their victory in the arena would have ripple effects throughout the first arc, but for now I'm going to focus on the story of the Salvation, and the crazy dragons (and human) piloting it.**

**Stay tuned!**


	15. Chapter 15: Reunion

**AN:**

**Thanks to superlance123 for the favorite!**

**QueenGlorytheFirst - I had not read Alternate before this, but did so after reading your review. It was pretty interesting, and a couple of the ideas in it are similar to ones I'll have later in this story, but trust me, this multiverse functions WAY differently than that one. I won't get into much now as I plan on having it explained in story later on, but I had this idea for how multiple multiverse fics could coexist in the same canon without interfering with one another, but Alternate throws a wrench into that. I did enjoy it, even if the ending was freakin' traumatizing, and once again I got so hooked binge reading that I think I caused permanent damage to my eyes.**

**Pt35 - I sometimes make the mistake of reading the reviews before the story too. Sorry I couldn't be more help about the reader stats thing!**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Reunion**

* * *

**Somewhere in the Multiverse**

Xavier watched in awe as the swirling blue vortex streamed past them. It was hard to imagine that they'd actually managed to escape that dreadful arena, let alone run into someone who could help them regroup with the Salvation. For once, Xavier actually felt glad to be traveling between the fabric of the multiverse.

Hidden sat to his left, carefully examining the instructions Luna had given them. The autopilot was taking care of all of the flying, so there wasn't really any need for either of them to even touch the controls in front of them.

Soon enough the vortex was abruptly ripped away, and the duo found themselves flying above a vast ocean, the afternoon sun gleaming overhead. Below them was a small sandbar, isolated amongst the crashing waves that stretched to the horizon. Resting atop it, landing gear extended and rear bay door wide open, was the unmistakable golden form of the Salvation.

They were back.

Hidden suddenly reached over and flipped a switch on the control panel. "Autopilot disengaged." the deep synthetic voice said over the speakers. Xavier turned to Hidden in confusion.

"Uh, Hidden? What are you doing?"

Hidden smiled, which only further worried Xavier. "We're probably going to be flying these things a lot more in the near future, so I might as well get a little practice landing."

"Are you _sure_ we should be doing this _now_?" Xavier asked, but Hidden ignored him. He gripped the U-shaped steering wheel and began angling the shuttle down towards the sandbar below, but turned too quickly and caused it to start spiraling out of control. Xavier clutched the front of his seat, just as he had back in the Striker, as the shuttle continued it's rapid descent.

"Don't worry, I got this!" Hidden called, but Xavier wasn't so sure. The sand was getting closer, and he had half a mind to bail while he still could.

Hidden flipped a few more switches, and the shuttle suddenly lurched to an abrupt stop, hovering above the sand. Xavier tried to focus on a mass of red and orange scales standing in front of them, but the dizziness made it difficult to focus on just about anything.

"Alright...and the landing gear should be…" Hidden mumbled, and flipped another switch on the control panel. Xavier heard mechanical whirring from below the shuttle as the landing gear extended. His vision was starting to stabilize, when the shuttle suddenly jolted downward, it's thrusters shut off. It landed with a resounding thud on the beach, sending sand cascading into the air.

"Woops." Hidden exclaimed, and Xavier quickly pushed open the right side door of the cockpit.

"Next time...leave the flying to the autopilot…" Xavier said, stumbling out of the cockpit and onto the soft sand below, Hidden following close behind.

"Hey, for my first time piloting a timeline hopping spaceship, I'd say that was pretty...WAH!"

Ricky suddenly leapt forward, tackling Hidden to the ground. "Hidden! Your...your back! I thought...I thought you'd be...and I tried to come for you...but...but Lin said..." he cried, tears of joy filling his eyes.

"Ak, Ricky! Get off of me! It hurts!" Hidden shouted, and Ricky stepped away from his brother. A look of concern washed away his joy as he noticed the burns covering Hidden and Xavier's bodies.

"What...what happened to you?" he asked.

"Oh, we just got into a little fight with a swarm of deadly nanobots." Hidden casually stated.

"_Little_ fight?" Xavier said, elbowing Hidden in the shoulder, "We nearly got killed!"

Ricky stared at the two of them, at a loss for words. "Wh..._what?_"

"Aw, that sounds so cool dudes!" Reggie shouted. Xavier hadn't noticed the human standing next to Ricky. "What was it like?"

Xavier smirked. "It was _awful_! Hidden got captured by _another_ queen, and I had to go rescue him from her psychotic gladiator arena." This time Hidden elbowed Xavier in the shoulder.

"Hey, we _both_ would have been dead had Ricky not been there to help us." he said.

"Wait, but I didn't…" Ricky started, but Hidden stopped him, wrapping a wing around his brother.

"Relax, we'll explain it later." he said with a smile, "Right now, I'd be nice to know where exactly we are."

"The Bay of a Thousand Scales." a voice said from the Salvation's hangar bay. The group turned back to see Lin striding down the long bay door, her usual stoic expression still plastered on her face. "The only other dragons around are a TideWing couple living on an island off in that direction." she said, pointing a talon towards the east. "Other than that, we're all alone here." It took Xavier a moment to realize that she was talking about SeaWings.

"_Finally! _We get a _break!_" Hidden exclaimed, and Xavier let out a sigh of relief alongside him. The two began making their way to the Salvation, wincing from the painful burns covering their body.

Lin frowned, looking over the two injured dragons. "There are some storage rooms off to the side of this big chamber here." she explained, "You should go patch yourselves up." And with that, Lin was gone, walking back into the Salvation and through an automatic door on the left side of the hangar bay.

"I think she's been snooping around the ship, though that wouldn't explain how she's gotten used to all of this so quickly." Ricky said, looking back where Lin had left. Reggie snickered.

"Really, 'cause I swear she still gives me weird looks every time she sees me."

The group stood chuckling for a moment, the imposing figure of the Salvation standing beside them. Cawing seagulls circled overhead, landing on the Salvation's golden hull to watch the dragons and human from afar as they made their way back inside the ship.

* * *

**The Salvation**

**Bunk 3**

**Early Morning**

Xavier woke up the next morning on the stiff mattress of his new bed. The early morning light filtered in through a strip of glass set high up in the back wall of the metal plated room. There were two beds on opposite sides of the chamber, hanging out over the cold metal floor. At the back was a single desk, built of the same sleek metal as the rest of the chamber. Atop it sat Xavier's laptop, PDA, and wallet, his only possessions he had brought with him to JSI.

He yawned, stepping off of the wall mounted bed and stretching out his back. He looked down at his talons, wrapped up in white bandages. The ointment they had found in the Salvation's surprisingly large stores of medical supplies had all but erased the pain from the burns, though now Xavier had to deal with the uncomfortable wrappings covering half his body.

He stepped towards the door to the room, it automatically sliding open for him, and walked out into the hallway beyond. It was on the level just above the hangar bay, connecting 8 rooms designed to house two dragons each. A ninth room designed for two humans sat at the end of the hall, though it seemed almost like an afterthought.

Xavier slowly walked down the hallway, eyes squinted, dragging a talon along one of the glass strips in the wall. He arrived at the next room over, Bunk 5, the sound of music audible even through the thick steel doors.

_We're not gonna take it!_

_No! We ain't gonna take it!_

_We're not gonna take it, any mooooooooooore!_

Xavier made three quick bangs on the door, and the music immediately cut off. He heard the sound of someone shuffling around, as if they were trying to hide something, and soon the door slid open, Hidden standing on the other side.

"Hey...uh...what's up Xavier?" Hidden said nonchalantly.

"Hidden, what are you doing in there?" Xavier groggily asked. He tried to look around Hidden, seeing some tools spread about the lone desk of the room. "We barely saw you last night. Are you building something? And where did you get those tools?"

Hidden grinned. "I am building something, and it is a _secret_. And I got the tools from the storage area. You'd be surprised how much stuff is in there."

Xavier sighed. _He's probably just working on fixing Bippy,_ Xavier thought. Lin had managed to snatch Bippy before the Salvation flew off, though one of its propeller arms had been snapped off in the fray. _Though, knowing Hidden, he's also probably upgrading it with laser cannons or a rocket launcher or something._

He looked over to the right side of the room, where Ricky's overstuffed duffel was sitting on one of the beds, his large NightWing plush sat next to it. He sighed, and looked back at Hidden.

"Come on, I think I can smell Ricky cooking up breakfast."

Hidden sniffed the air, smiling gleefully. "I think you're right." And the two stepped out into the hallway, making their way towards the dining hall.

Hidden stared at his PDA, flipping through his vast library of music he had downloaded to it. It's battery was bound to be running low at this point, and Xavier wondered why Hidden was wasting it so quickly.

A familiar human came darting down the hall, and looked up at the two dragons. "Oh, hey guys!" Reggie said. "You smell that too?"

"Yeah," Xavier said, "Ricky's going to town in the kitchen."

"I don't know how much more I can stomach though." Hidden commented, "Not after that feast he whipped up last night."

The night of Hidden and Xavier's return, Ricky had used whatever fish and herbs he and Lin could gather to cook up a monstrous feast. Hidden and Xavier eagerly stuffed themselves full, after having gone more than a day without any form of food. But Lin had been hesitant, preferring to stick to eating whole raw fish until Hidden managed to convince her to try some sashimi. She hadn't eaten another unprepared fish since.

Shortly thereafter, the EarthWing had flown off, saying that she was going to check out a far off town that she had heard about from the SeaWings living nearby, and that she wouldn't be back until the next morning.

The trio arrived in the dining hall, a moderately sized room with two long tables running through it. Thick metal pillars ran in a line through the center of the chamber, and to their left was the kitchen, separated from the dining area by a long white countertop.

Ricky waved at the three from the kitchen. He was busy frying some eggs, most likely taken from a seagull's nest. The group waved back, Hidden and Xavier sitting at the table closest to the kitchen and Reggie sitting at a smaller one off to the side. The idea that the original owners of this ship hadn't initially anticipated humans aboard only further cemented itself in Xavier's mind.

"You know, I've been wondering." Reggie commented as Ricky stepped out of the kitchen and set out plates of food for everyone. "How _did_ JSI get ahold of the Salvation. I mean, there's no way they built this thing, right?"

"It was the meteor." Hidden, Xavier, and Ricky all said in unison.

"You mean the one that hit Jade Mountain three years ago?" Reggie asked.

"_Yes!_" Hidden said through a mouthful of fried seagull egg. Xavier swallowed his bite, turning to the human.

"It's too obvious. Something hit Jade Mountain three years ago, the researchers there flipped a lid and started warning everyone not to come near, because of radiation or something. And then this new reactor pops up a year later like POOF!"

Hidden nodded, having already scarfed down most of his food. "All those janky conspiracy theory sites went nuts after that. You remember the raid JSI memes that took over the internet!"

Reggie nodded, snickering. "Aw yeah, that's actually why I got a job there! Pretty ironic how all this turned out." He paused for a moment, chugging a small glass of water from the kitchen tap.

"Same here." Hidden said, though he looked almost embarrassed at the fact. "You know, come to think of it, that stuff about the "proto-dragon" in Pantala might have been JSI's doing too. Once that surfaced, everyone forgot about the meteor."

"Okay, enough about the meteor." Ricky impatiently said, sliding a piece of dried seaweed into his mouth. "You _still_ haven't told me what this other Ricky was like!"

"Oh, you woulda loved him." Hidden said, setting his now empty plate on the white countertop. "He wore this black leather jacket, had this little scar on this side of his face." He pointed to a spot on the right side of his jaw, just beneath the ear. "Oh, and he drove a flying car he called the Striker."

"Moons." Ricky said, staring down at his plate, "He sounds so much cooler than I am."

Hidden sat next to his brother, nudging him. "Nah, you're _way_ cooler than he was Ricky." he said with a friendly smile, "I bet he couldn't cook up some killer fish kabobs like you can." He turned to Xavier, who nodded in agreement. Nothing beat Ricky's cooking.

"Thanks." Ricky said, smiling at his brother.

The sound of talonsteps echoed through the halls of the Salvation, and the group turned to see Lin walking into the dining hall. Her wings hung low at her sides, and large bags rested under her eyes. "Hey, SunWing." she said, "Got any food?"

"Your plate's over there on the counter." Ricky said, pointing to the countertop where an untouched plate of food sat. Lin slowly shambled over to it, like a zombie risen from the dead, and picked it up. She brought it up to her square snout, sniffed it a couple times, shrugged, and took a seat at the far side of the table as the other three dragons.

_Did she really fly all the way to that town and back without any sleep?!_

"There wasn't anyone there who looked like they could help you." Lin stated, "The place seemed almost identical to the Tide Kingdom from my world, except for some reason all the TideWings there called themselves 'SeaWings'."

Xavier let out a sigh of relief. It seemed Lin's timeline was the exception when it came to the names of the different dragon species.

"You weren't followed, were you?" Ricky asked, taking his now empty plate up to the counter. Xavier and Reggie followed shortly after, with Reggie having to climb a small ladder fastened to the wall to reach it.

"No, I didn't let anyone see me while I was there either." Lin said, squinting at her food as she tried to keep herself awake.

"Hey Lin, I've been meaning to ask." Hidden began, walking to sit closer to Lin. She shot him a tired glare, and he backed away, sitting back down next to Ricky. "So uh, after what Xavier and I experienced in the arena. I thought perhaps you could...you know...teach us how to fight? At least once we've got these bandages off."

"Wait, us?" Xavier asked. Hidden hadn't once talked with him about this.

"Sure." Lin grunted, finishing up her food. She walked up to the counter and set down her plate, and then strode out of the dining hall, presumably to her bed in Bunk 2.

"Hold on Hidden." Xavier said, walking up behind the SandWing. "When exactly did you ask _me_ if I wanted to fight Lin?" The idea of getting thrown about by the beastly EarthWing again was not at all appealing to the RainWing.

"_Relax._ I'll make sure she goes easy on us." Hidden said, though his mischievous look told other stories.

Xavier sighed. "You know what, fine." Xavier said, marching off to the bunks. "But don't blame me if we get beaten to death!"

"I won't have to, 'cause we'd be dead!" Hidden sarcastically shouted as Xavier stepped back into the circular hallways of the Salvation. If he had to choose between getting a bit beat up and dying, well, he wasn't planning on kicking the bucket just yet.

Not when there was an entire _multiverse_ out there to see, even if most of it tried to kill him.

* * *

**AN:**

**If it wasn't quite clear yet, this story isn't structured like your typical...well...story. I've actually structured it closer to a manga, with the chapters able to be grouped into pseudo"episodes" of a TY series. This has to do with the way I initially envisioned this story in my mind, and I still feel that it would be best represented in comic or animated form. This chapter sort of marks the end of episode three, though moving forward I think the lines between them will slowly fade away, especially as I continue to improve my writing style and am able to easier translate my ideas into the written medium.**

**This chapter in particular is the first of the "filler" chapters, which act as buffers between the big adventures to take some time for character interactions, world building, and giving the characters time to plan their next moves. These will be especially important in grounding the characters and making them seem much more fleshed out and "real". I hope you enjoy the interactions in this brief moment of respite, because the next adventure will be a real doozy!**


	16. Chapter 16: The Cookout

**Review Responses:**

**Pt35 - The story of the original crew could certainly be a future spin off like the last timeline had the potential for, but there's probably going to be the potential for dozens of spin offs in this story. Also, if I had to recommend a manga, I'd say to check out Dr. Stone. It's an amazing story and even has a bunch of real world science mixed in. Too bad all the book stores are closed right now...**

* * *

**Chapter 16: The Cookout**

* * *

**The Bay of a Thousand Scales**

**Late Afternoon**

Reggie leaned against a smooth boulder, legs spread out across the soft, warm sand of their tropical haven. It had been one week since Hidden and Xavier had returned, the group taking some time to rest and recuperate after everything that had happened.

Before him stood the Salvation, with both its front and rear hangar doors open. Light streamed in through the other end of the massive chamber, which ran through the entire lower section of the vessel.

"Hey...would ya just...take it easy...we can barely keep up with…." Xavier attempted to say through heavy panting. Lin completely ignored him, lunging forward and sweeping his legs, causing him to crash to the hard metal floor of the hangar. He and Hidden had just had their bandages taken off that morning, and the impatient SandWing had insisted on beginning battle training immediately after, despite many of their injuries still being sore.

"Do you really think your opponent will want to listen to your whining?" Lin said sternly as Xavier struggled to his feet. "If anything, it will make them want to kill you faster."

Suddenly, a flash of yellow scales leapt up behind Lin. Hidden swung his tail straight at her chest, his tail barb wrapped up in a heavy blanket. A cocky grin was plastered on his face, but quickly swept away when Lin spun around, grabbing his tail and using his momentum to swing him to the ground. He rolled onto his back, groaning.

"That blanket is slowing you down." Lin said, stalking around the downed SandWing. Xavier stood off to the side, hesitant to attempt another sneak attack.

"They didn't have any barb bags here, so I had to improvise." Hidden said as he pulled himself back up.

Lin frowned. "Listen DustWing, I don't know what a 'barb bag' is, but what I _do_ know, is that if you want to win in a fight, you have to use every natural defense at your disposal." she explained, eyeing the deadly barb wrapped in deep blue coverings.

"I'm not trying to learn how to kill someone." Hidden replied, "I just wanna be able to defend myself in a bad situation. And if I _did_ want to kill someone, I'd just use a gun. I mean, they've gotta have some lying around…"

Before Hidden could finish Lin lunged forward once more, toppling the SandWing to the ground. She pinned his tail with one of her rear talons, the other pressed squarely against his stomach. Her wings held his against the cold metal, and a sharp claw was held up against the soft scales of his neck.

"You talk too much." Lin said to the helpless SandWing. She stepped off of him, allowing him to get back up and walk over to Xavier. She turned to the two beaten and bruised dragons, frowning. "Training's over for today, hopefully something I've taught you here makes it through your thick skulls."

Reggie smiled as the formidable EarthWing, still slightly smaller than her trainees, disappeared behind one of the Salvation's automatic doors. "Great job guys!" he shouted, "You really showed her!"

"Gee, thanks." Xavier replied.

Reggie looked at the two dragons. Lin had certainly done a number on them, and yet for some reason, part of Reggie wished he could be up there with them. At least it would be more interesting than sitting around doing nothing, like he had been for the past week. What was a human supposed to do in a ship so clearly designed for dragons?

"Hey, why don't ya come down here and cool off on the nice warm sand?" Reggie offered, seeing Hidden rubbing one of the fading burns on his foreleg.

"That's an antithesis." Hidden stated. Reggie swore he had heard that word before in his Draconic III class, whatever it meant. "Besides, I've got stuff to do in my room."

"Dude, you're always locked up in that room." Reggie commented, "What are you doing in there anyway?"

"It's a _surprise_." Hidden said, "Trust me, you'll love it. And I'm not _always_ locked up in that room, Xavier and I have been testing out the Salvation's controls too, right Xavier?" Xavier nodded, and Reggie remembered when they had nearly sent the Salvation to another timeline a couple days prior.

"I'm not too fond of sand anyway." Hidden continued, "It's coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere."

Hidden turned to leave, and Reggie looked at Xavier in confusion. "Who's ever heard of a SandWing who doesn't like sand?" Reggie asked as Hidden walked off down the same corridor Lin had gone through.

"_That_, is a stereotype." Xavier commented.

"Well what do _you_ think Hidden's up to in there?"

Xavier shrugged. "He's probably fixing Bippy or something." He turned to follow Hidden out of the hangar. "If you need me, I'll be in the showers." As Xavier stepped through the circular doorway, he was met by Ricky, heading in the opposite direction. The SkyWing briefly paused, looking over his bruised up friend, and continued on through the hangar, a look of concern on his face as he walked over to Reggie on the beach.

"Lin certainly doesn't hold back." he said with a half hearted smile.

"I don't suppose _you'll_ tell me what Hidden's doin' in there."

Ricky shook his head. "Hidden made me promise not to tell." Reggie nodded, not wanting to press any further. He'd only known Ricky for little more than a week, and already he knew he was not the type of dragon to break a promise.

The SkyWing slowly laid down next to the human, looking up at the Salvation standing before them. It's massive thruster ring hung out above their heads, sunlight streaming between the four jagged fins holding it in place. Ricky sighed, and Reggie noticed him nervously fidgeting with his talons.

"What's wrong dude, something bothering you?"

Ricky stared down at the sand. The sun's movement had cast a shadow over the two of them as it disappeared behind the ring.

"I don't know." the SkyWing said, "I guess I'm just a little antsy, you know? It seems that with every day that we stay here on this beach, I get more and more...worked up...I guess." He paused, turning to Reggie. "I mean, it's nice here and all, but I can't help but worry about what's going on back in our timeline, about our families, our homes." he sighed once again, picking up a talonful of sand and letting it slowly sift through his claws. "My dad's probably gotten in big trouble with JSI because of this, because of us."

Reggie thought for a second. He hadn't once felt the same anxiety that Ricky had described in the past week. What did he have to worry about? He had no siblings, no friends, his parents were total deadbeats. The only relative he kind of liked was his uncle Jerry, but he had been arrested for tax fraud.

"I think Hidden feels the same way." Ricky continued, snapping Reggie out of his introspection. "Though, he's a little more irritated than anxious, even if he doesn't show it."

"Aren't we having a cookout tonight, you know, to talk about what to do next?" Reggie said, remembering Hidden talking about such a thing earlier that morning.

"Yeah, I guess so." Ricky said with a smile, "I think everyone's ready to get going at this point."

"Well I sure am!" Reggie stated, looking back up at the Salvation. The sun had shone on them once again, entering the small strip of sky between the ring and the main hull of the ship. "I wonder what kind of place we'll wind up in next."

"Preferably somewhere without evil monarchs that try to lock you in their dungeons and force you to fight their nanobot monstrosities." Ricky cheekily said.

The two sat on the warm sand laughing, as the sun continued it's long path across the sky.

* * *

**Later that Night**

Embers crackled in the cold, dark night, the smell of burning driftwood floating through the air. Reggie sat atop the smooth boulder, staring into the dancing flames. Even from his elevated seat, the four dragons still dwarfed him.

He took a bite out of a small piece of salmon, tender and juicy from cooking on the bonfire. The group ate in relative silence, the sounds of the crackling embers and slowly churning ocean blending into a soft symphony.

"So, what's the plan now?" Reggie asked, breaking the uneasy silence as he finished the last of his fish. Everyone turned to Hidden, the officiator of this small gathering.

"Well." he began, "Xavier and I think we've got most of the basic controls of the Salvation figured out. We should, in theory, be able to pilot it to another timeline _relatively _safely."

"Should we be worried about that 'relatively' part?" Lin asked. The group lightly chuckled, but Lin's expression remained entirely serious.

"Relax." Xavier said, "We shouldn't run into any more problems like what happened two days ago."

"So why not just go?" Reggie asked. Hidden shook his head.

"It's not that simple." he began, "If we were to just fly the Salvation into another timeline, we'd be attracting way too much unwanted attention. It's for that same reason that we haven't tried exploring this one."

"Hidden and I have been talking, and we think we've come up with a pretty simple way to mitigate this risk." Xavier continued. Reggie and Ricky both leaned in slightly closer to hear what the RainWing had to say.

"We're going to split up."

A brief silence fell over the gathering, and Lin let out a tired yawn.

"B-But you guys just got back! Do you really think we should split up again?" Ricky finally asked, shakily, hints of the utter devastation he had felt when Hidden and Xavier had been lost to the multiverse present in his voice. Reggie had been there when he had tried to go after them in one of the shuttles, and when Lin had to tackle him to get him to come to his senses.

"I know it sounds a bit crazy, especially considering all that happened a week ago." Xavier said, putting a talon on Ricky's shoulder. "But strategically speaking, our best course of action is to have one group go ahead in a shuttle while another stays behind with the Salvation." Ricky nodded somberly, and even Reggie could understand the logic behind such a move.

"Xavier and I have already decided to have me go ahead with the away team while he stays here to continue working to crack the Salvation's systems." Hidden explained.

"I'm guessing you want me to come with you, Hidden?" Lin asked, taking the final bite of her fish.

"Obviously. Which leaves one more spot on the away team."

Reggie immediately shot to his feat atop the boulder, nearly slipping off in the process. "I'm coming too!" he hastily said. "And don't try to stop me, 'cause there's no _way_ I'm missing out on the next timeline!"

The four dragons stared at the lone human, standing shakily atop his boulder. Reggie noticed a disappointed look on Ricky's face, and realized he must have been ready to ask the same. Hidden noticed too, turning to his brother.

"Ricky, were you gonna…."

"No, it's fine." Ricky said, his red scales practically glowing in the firelight, "I can stay here with Xavier. Reggie really wants to go anyway, right?"

Reggie couldn't believe how generous Ricky was being. First the SkyWing had let Reggie ride him, and now here he was giving up his spot on the away team, even if it meant being separated from his brother once again. "Why can't there be four members of the away team?" Reggie asked.

Hidden smirked. "Because Xavier would drive himself crazy without us here to keep him company."

"Actually, I believe it is quite the opposite." Xavier said slyly. But everyone knew that it would be unwise to leave the Salvation in the care of a single dragon.

"Don't worry." Hidden said to Ricky, "Xavier and I have worked out a way to communicate between the shuttles and the Salvation, and it should work between timelines. We'll call in the moment we touch down safely."

Ricky smiled. "So that settles it?"

Hidden nodded, tossing the stick that had held his fish into the flames. "Yeah, I'd say this meeting is finished." He turned back towards the Salvation, a dark shadow against the star speckled night sky. The firelight cast a soft glow across its golden hull. "We should all get some sleep, the away team will be heading out in the morning."

"Here's hoping we find someplace that can actually help us." Xavier yawned, turning to leave the bonfire. The others followed suit, one by one, walking through the Salvation's darkened hangar to get some shut eye. Reggie was the last to go, taking one last look at the dying bonfire as he slipped off of the boulder. A single ember floated out of the diminishing blaze, landing in his outstretched palm.

He smiled, grasping the ember in his hand, and walked back into the Salvation as the firelight slowly faded into the night.

* * *

**Bunk 9**

**The Next Morning**

Reggie awoke on the floor of his room, having rolled off of his small cot. He squirmed out of his blankets, which he had become quite wrapped up in, and got to his feet. There were no windows in his room, the only source of light coming from a dangling lamp hanging from a roof of exposed wires and pipes. Surprisingly, the place was still nicer than his own apartment in Greensdale, a predominantly human suburb of Possibility.

He walked over to a small table situated between the room's two cot's and picked up his PDA. The clock read 12:15 P.M., and for a moment Reggie worried that he had overslept, but he soon remembered that his PDA was still telling the time in his own timeline, not this one.

He sighed, changing into one of the plain white jumpsuits from the Salvation's storage area. It was surprisingly comfortable, even if it was a little tight.

He pressed a button on a panel next to the circular doorway of his room, and stepped out into the wide hallway. The roof towered high above his head, the circular lights regularly placed along it glowing brightly. He turned to his left, and began making his way towards the dining hall.

The chamber was empty, the faint smell of grilled salmon and kelp wafting through the air. Reggie walked over to the counter separating the dining area from the kitchen, and made his way up the ladder bolted to the wall next to it. Pulling himself up onto the white marble surface, he saw four dirtied plates sitting side by side along the countertop.

_Great,_ he thought, _I really did sleep in…._

Reggie noticed a fifth, smaller plate, the food upon which was untouched. He walked over and picked it up, ready to climb back down the ladder, but seeing as how he was already late, he sat down on the counter and ate it there.

The food was good, as always, but he was starting to get sick of eating nothing but fish, and seaweed.

Finishing his meal, he set his plate down next to the others, briefly chuckling at its comically small size compared to them, and slid back down the ladder. He made his way out of the dining hall, turning left, and drowsily walked down the massive corridor towards the main stairwell.

He stood at the edge of the first step for a moment, looking down the long flight of stairs, each step nearly as tall as he was. He turned to the wall next to the stairwell, where a rectangular, human sized door was set into the metal plating. Pressing a small button next to it, he stepped through the sliding door and into the human sized elevator.

Reggie stood, arms crossed, in the small metal box, listening to the soft whirring of the pulley system as he descended into the lower levels of the Salvation. After a few minutes, the sliding door opened once again, and Reggie stepped out into yet another corridor, nearly identical to the ones above. He passed a couple massive circular doorways before stepping through an archway into the Salvation's titanic hangar bay.

The four dragons were already waiting by the shuttles. Hidden turned and waved a talon at Reggie when he noticed him sprinting towards them. "Hey, Reggie! What took ya so long?" the SandWing shouted.

Reggie skidded to a stop in front of the shuttle, bending over, hands on his knees. "Ah...sorry…." he began, breathing heavily from the sudden burst of athleticism, "Guess I overslept again."

"So, now that the human's here, will we be going?" Lin impatiently asked. Hidden nodded, and the EarthWing stepped up a small ramp around the back of the shuttle.

"You _will_ remember to call, won't you?" Ricky asked Hidden.

"As soon as we land." he replied, smiling, and with a wave to Xavier, who was standing in front of a console near the shuttles, he stepped into the cockpit. "Well Reggie, you coming?' he asked as he lowered the cockpit's left side door.

Reggie ran around to the back of the shuttle and up the ramp, joining Lin in the rear chamber. The EarthWing looked down at him as he entered, and edged herself just slightly away from the human. Reggie ignored her, leaning against the wall of the shuttle as the rear ramp lifted shut.

The shuttle lurched, lifting into the air. Reggie looked into the cockpit to see Hidden waving at Ricky and Xavier as the shuttle slowly turned to face the rear exit of the hangar. A loud snap sounded off as the tether cable was unhooked, and the shuttle sped off out of the Salvation.

Reggie couldn't entirely make out the swirling blue vortex outside, Hidden's wings blocked most of the cockpit's windshield, and the tiny slit of a window on the rear wall of the shuttle was far too high for him to get a clear view. It didn't matter much to him though. After a week of doing almost nothing, he was _finally _off to another timeline. Who knew what adventures awaited?

Reggie glanced at Lin, who glanced back, warily. He still wasn't sure why she was still put off by him, even after becoming accustomed to the Salvation so quickly. A strange thought crossed his mind that perhaps she was _afraid_ of humans, but he quickly shrugged it off, chuckling to himself, and garnering a confused look from the EarthWing.

"Head's up guys, we're here!" Hidden shouted from the cockpit as the shuttle was ripped out of the blue vortex and plunged into a new world. Reggie tried to stand up and walk towards the cockpit to get a better look, but had to quickly brace himself against the wall as the shuttle veered down towards the land below.

"What's it like out there?" he shouted to Hidden.

"Some kind of deciduous forest, from the looks of it!" Hidden replied. Reggie didn't quite get what "deciduous" meant, but a forest didn't seem especially concerning. If anything, it almost sounded quite dull compared to the breathtaking vistas of the Earth Kingdom.

The shuttle's descent gradually slowed, as it hovered above the treetops. Hidden seemed to be looking for a place to land, and upon finding one, veered the shuttle to the right, nearly causing Reggie to stumble to the floor. Soon, the thrum of the engines ceased, the shuttle having touched down on the forest floor.

Reggie watched the rear wall lower to the ground, and stared out at the tranquil scenery beyond. Dozens of birch trees stood scattered about the landscape, their thin, speckled white trunks gently swaying in the breeze, and their leaves a variety of yellows, oranges, and reds. A small stream trickled along in the distance, and birds chattered amongst the many trees. The sun hung high overhead, it's rays bouncing off of the multi-colored leaves as they fell to carpet the ground below.

Maybe it was the way the entire forest seemed to glow in the sunlight, or the fact that he had been staring at nothing but ocean for the past week, but Reggie was completely transfixed by the scenery before him. He slowly stepped down the shuttle's ramp, setting foot on the layer of pale yellow grass that covered the small clearing they had landed in.

"We've landed Ricky, and the place is even more beautiful than it is back there!" he heard Hidden exuberantly say in the shuttle's cockpit. Ricky said something back over the coms, but Reggie couldn't make it out as he continued to walk away from the shuttle and deeper into the clearing.

He heard the sound of talons on metal as Lin made her way down the ramp behind him. "Where do you think you're going?" he heard her ask.

"Just...having a look around." Reggie replied, eyes fixed on the small stream just past the treeline. He stared at the rushing water for a few minutes, watching it sparkle in the sunlight, when a fish suddenly leapt out of the shimmering veil and splashed back down into the stream.

"Hey Lin, you see that?" he asked.

No response.

Reggie turned around, expecting to see the EarthWing standing just behind him, an unamused look on her face, but she wasn't there. And it wasn't just her, the entire clearing was empty, as if there had never been anyone there in the first place.

Lin, Hidden, and the shuttle, had all vanished.

* * *

**AN:**

**This chapter was a bit slower than some of the others, and I hope it wasn't too boring. It's kind of the calm before the storm, and what a storm it's going to be!**

**The main focus here was on establishing Reggie's character, and how he feels like an outcast. Hope you all enjoyed!**


	17. Chapter 17: Sanctuary

**Review Responses:**

**Pt35 - I'm glad you liked the chapter! Who knew kittens could be so aggressive...**

**QueenGlorytheFirst - I was a little worried about how people would take the references that I've seeded in the story, but I'm glad you find them funny. Hidden's timeline is supposed to be a version of Pyrrhia that mirrors our own, and that includes its history and popular culture. And yeah, they most definitely did have their own version of the 80s.**

**AN: This chapter, and the next three or so, are a little different in terms of writing style than the others. You'll see what I mean here in a bit, but I promise that there is an explanation for it (you'll probably figure it out by the end of the next chapter).**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Sanctuary**

* * *

**Somewhere Near the Center of Pyrrhia**

**Midday**

"Hidden! Lin!" Reggie called, sprinting into the clearing. No use, the two dragons were gone, and the shuttle with them. He stopped, standing in the center of the empty clearing, the yellow grass gently swaying in the breeze.

_Moons, what's happening here? Lin was standing just behind me, and now...now they're gone, vanished! Like magic or something!_ He shook his head, brushing off that idea. _What am I thinking, magic isn't real!_

Reggie kneeled down on the grassy earth, realizing that his one and only way back to the Salvation was gone, and he had no idea how or where it went. His mind raced as he tried to wrap his head around his current situation, when a flash of mahogany scales appeared in the corner of his eye.

Rolling to the side, Reggie narrowly avoided being pounced upon by a bulky MudWing dragonet. They crashed to the ground, their face buried in the dirt.

_(Laugh Track)_

Reggie froze, whipping his head around to look into the forest around him, and the sky up above. _What...where did that…_ he thought, when another dragon, a female SilkWing that was slightly larger than the MudWing that had attacked him, descended from the sky.

_Pieridae lands on the forest floor next to Caiman, a disapproving frown on her face._

**Pieridae: **You know, if you keep landing face first in the dirt like that, you'll end up more mud than wing.

_(Laugh Track)_

There it was again, the laughter. It was unnerving, and sounded like it was coming from _inside _of Reggie's head. He wasn't too concerned about that at the moment, though, not with the two strange dragons standing right before him, staring at him.

**Caiman: **Come on Pieridae, it was just standing there out in the open! It's like it wanted to get caught!

_Pieridae sighs._

**Pieridae: **Caiman, when are you going to learn not to go jumping into things so quickly?

"Hey, uh...Pieridae, was it?" Reggie began, "Could you and your friend maybe..._not_ try to catch me? That seems kinda rude to be honest."

_Pieridae and Caiman freeze, staring mouths agape at the talking scavenger._

_(Laugh Track)_

Reggie sighed, seeing the shocked expressions on the dragons' faces. _Just like in Lin's timeline, huh?_ he thought. The two dragons seemed nice, despite the MudWing's rash nature. But there was something...off...about the way they acted, though Reggie couldn't quite place it. Something about this world just seemed...wrong.

_Pieridae raises a shaky talon toward the scavenger._

**Pieridae: **I-It can _talk_?!

_(Laugh Track)_

_Caiman lunges towards the scavenger once again, a massive grin on his face._

Reggie rolled out of the way and dove to the side as the MudWing leapt face first into the dirt once again. "Dude! What's your problem?!" he shouted, as the MudWing got back to his feet, shaking grass off of his snout.

_(Laugh Track)_

The laughter was starting to grind on Reggie's nerves. But there didn't seem to be any way to stop it. How was he supposed to stop something being broadcast directly into his own mind?

**Pieridae:** Caiman, be careful! That thing could be dangerous!

**Caiman: **Dangerous? It's a _talking scavenger_! We _have _to catch it now!

"Okay, hold on just a second!" Reggie said, walking between the two dragons and holding his hands in the air. "Why _exactly_ are you trying to catch me? And would you please stop calling me a scavenger too! I'm a human."

**Caiman:** A..._hooman?_

_(Laugh Track)_

Reggie groaned, pinching the bridge of his snout. He turned to the SilkWing expectantly. "Look, could you just tell me what in the blazing moons is going on here?"

**Pieridae:** Well um...mister _human_….

_(Laugh track)_

**Pieridae: **Caiman and I are from a place called Sanctuary, where we keep uh, _humans_ like you to study, and stuff.

Reggie thought for a moment. He didn't like the idea of this "Sanctuary", it sounded too much like a human zoo, which certainly didn't sit well considering the history of his own timeline. But, on the other hand, this meant that there would be other people there, other humans like him.

_Come to think of it, _he thought, smiling, _I haven't seen another human being since we left JSI, haven't I?_

There was still the matter of Hidden and Lin's disappearance, but Reggie had no idea where to even start on that front. What was he going to do, walk aimlessly through the forest calling out their names?

"Alright, I guess I'll check out this 'Sanctuary' place." Reggie confidently stated, "But don't expect me to stick around, all right."

**Caiman:** You're a feisty one, aren't you? I think I'll call you...Scruffy!

_(Laugh Track)_

"Yeah, I don't think so. I have a name you know." Reggie said, frowning, "It's Reggie, and I'm sorry, but is everything you say followed by that laughter?"

_Pieridae and Caiman stare at Reggie in silence, confusion written on their faces. Caiman leans over to whisper to Pieridae._

**Caiman: **I think he might have hit his head when he was avoiding me earlier.

_(Laugh Track)_

"You know I can hear you, right?" Reggie said. It didn't seem like the dragons could hear the laughter, though Reggie wasn't sure if he should have been worried about it, or relieved. He sighed, running over to Pieridae. "Mind if I hop on?"

_Pieridae looks somewhat put off by Reggie, but slowly nods her head._

"Thanks." he said, climbing up Pieridae's outstretched foreleg. He sat down between her twin pairs of insect-like wings, her bright yellow scales shimmering in the afternoon sunlight. Reggie had gotten used to riding on the backs of dragons at this point, and in fact it had actually begun to be a bit fun, even if it still made him feel a little awkward. The two strange dragons flapped their wings, lifting into the sky, and Reggie watched as the orange and red treetops shrunk beneath him.

_Pieridae and Caiman fly off to Sanctuary, Reggie in tow._

* * *

**Sanctuary**

**Early Afternoon**

Reggie had been riding Pieridae for about ten minutes, when he saw the stone grey walls of Sanctuary rise up amongst the colorful canopy. As the dragons gilded above it, he looked down to see a small collection of wooden huts, all clustered within the formidable stone barricade. To the side of the enclosure stood a stone fortress, most likely where the dragons who worked here lived.

And there, amongst the scattering of huts, were people. Actual, human, people.

Reggie was surprised at how excited he was to finally be around others like him, though his excitement was promptly crushed when, seeing the two dragons landing in their enclosed village, the humans began fleeing into the safety of their homes. Reggie sighed, eyeing the few heads sticking out of the huts. _Well, what did you expect Reggie? A welcoming party?_

He slid off of Pieridae, and turned back to the two dragons.

**Pieridae: **So, what do you think? Pretty great, right?

Reggie shrugged. "It's quaint, I guess." He looked around at the many pairs of eyes peering out at him from the wooden shelters. It was hard to tell how many people these dragons had managed to capture, but the look of fear in their eyes was undeniable. "Is everyone here always so afraid?" he asked uneasily.

**Caiman: **Isn't that how all scavengers are around dragons?

**Pieridae: **Only when we're dumb enough to leap right out in front of them.

_(Laugh Track)_

**Pieridae: **Come on, let's go get Winter.

**Caiman: **Oh yeah! He'll totally lose his cool when he sees what we brought back!

_(Laugh Track)_

_Pieridae and Caiman fly off towards the fortress, Caiman bubbling with excitement._

"What, no goodbye?" Reggie shouted at them as they flew off over the wall. He paused, briefly wondering if these dragons actually thought they could keep him here. _Gah! Keep it together Reggie! _he thought, hitting himself on the head. _Hidden and Lin are still missing, and there's no way you're getting home without them!_

He turned around towards the gathering of huts behind him, expecting to see the people inside to be stepping out of hiding now that the dragons were gone. But they remained, peering out at him in a mixture of fear, confusion, and even a bit of anger. Reggie slowly lifted a hand and hesitantly waved at the fearful crowd, smiling awkwardly. He was met by the sounds of wooden doors slamming shut.

Reggie sighed, staring down at the trampled grass beneath his feet as he stood between the towering wall and collection of hovels, when the creaking whine of a wooden door opening caught his attention. He looked up, seeing a woman with brown skin and long black hair, wearing a worn cloth outfit so dirty it was impossible to tell what it's original color was, sprinting towards him.

"Maple! Get back here!" he heard a voice call from the hut she had come from, but the woman completely ignored it. She stopped a few paces in front of Reggie, staring at him in a mix of curiosity and awe.

"Uh...hi?" Reggie began in syllabic, unsure if the people here understood draconic.

"W-Were you _talking_ to the dragons just then?" Maple abruptly asked, wonder twinkling in her eyes.

"Yeah…? You mean you guys can't?" Reggie replied, beginning to understand why dragons in Lin's timeline and this one were so shocked to hear him speaking draconic. _It really is like the dark ages, huh?_

"Woah, that's so cool!" Maple said, a wide grin on her face. Reggie was slightly taken aback, nobody had called _him _cool before. "I've always wondered what they were saying! Everyone else said I was crazy, that all it was was meaningless grumbling and growling, but _I knew_ that there was more to it! You _have_ to teach me!"

Reggie took a step back, overwhelmed by Maple's sheer enthusiasm, and Maple seemed to take notice. She took a step back as well, suppressing her giddiness. "Ah, what am I doing." she began, "Sorry about that, my name's Maple, and you are?"

"Reggie." Reggie replied.

"Huh, that's an odd name. Though I guess you are the first person I've met who can actually _talk to dragons!_"

Reggie didn't think such a thing was all too exciting, despite the look of fascination on Maple's face. That look was quickly replaced with one of fear and tension, though, as Maple began to slowly back away from Reggie, looking up at something behind him. Reggie turned around to see two dragonets, an IceWing and a HiveWing, descending into the enclosure.

_Winter and Cricket land in the scavenger den, Winter eyeing Reggie with apprehension._

**Winter: **So, you're the scavenger that can talk, are you?

"I think you mean the _human_ that can talk, and yeah, I can speak your language. The name's Reggie, nice to meet ya!" Reggie said, a cheeky grin on his face. Maple's enthusiasm seemed to be rubbing off on him. Reggie briefly turned around, noticing the utter fascination on Maple's face at seeing him talk to the IceWing.

_Winter and Cricket step back, both shocked._

_(Laugh Track)_

**Cricket:** I-It's true! It...I mean he...he really can talk!

_(Laugh Track)_

_Winter stands in silence, still processing what he had seen and heard._

**Cricket: **This is incredible! Now we'll be able to learn everything about them! Plus this pretty much proves the fact that they can, in fact, read!

_Winter scoffs._

**Winter: **This doesn't prove anything, Cricket. For all we know he could be a dragon enchanted to look like a scavenger. And just look at those strange coverings too!

"Hey ice face!" Reggie shouted, not really knowing what to take offense to more. "I'll have you know that I am a _human _through and through."

The IceWing's comment about magic worried Reggie, though. What if magic really _did_ exist in this timeline. There didn't seem to be any logical explanation to Hidden and Lin's disappearance, though perhaps he just wasn't smart enough to figure it out.

_Winter is taken aback by Reggie's retort._

_(Laugh Track)_

Reggie looked between the pompous IceWing and mystified HiveWing. He doubted Hidden and Lin were here, and entertaining these two would just waste time. "Listen, I don't really have time to sit here and talk anyway." he explained, "A couple of dragons I've been traveling with went missing, and I'm in a bit of a hurry to find them."

**Cricket: **Oh, that's too bad...I guess. I was really hoping you'd want to stay and...wait. Oh, yeah! Winter, didn't you get a letter from Jade Mountain Academy a couple days ago, asking you to bring in a couple scavengers for a science fair?

_Winter pauses, a look of embarrassment on his face at the thought of returning to his old school._

_(Laugh Track)_

**Winter: **Y-Yes, I did. But….

**Cricket: **_So_...you could take Reggie there with you, and while he's there he can look for his friends!

Reggie considered the proposal. He vaguely remembered Lin briefly mentioning a place like that in the past, and Jade Mountain did seem like a good place to look, considering that was where the Salvation had been held back in his timeline. It was certainly a better option than sitting around in a village that seemed to mostly hate him.

**Winter: **Hold on...nobody said I was even going to go there yet….

**Cricket:** Come _on_ Winter, it's a talking scavenger! The Jade Winglet is _sure_ to win with him as their science project!

_Am I really just a science project to these guys? _Reggie thought, but he had already made up his mind as to whether or not he was going to go.

"Sure, I'll go." he said, catching the attention of the two bickering dragons. If he was going to get out of this timeline, he'd just have to play by its rules.

**Cricket:** See! Even he wants to go!

**Winter:** _Ffffffine_. I'll go.

_(Laugh Track)_

**Winter:** Though, didn't the letter ask for _two_ scavengers, not one?

**Cricket:** We could catch one of the ones from the den when it's time to leave.

"Woah, woah!" Reggie said, holding up his hands. "That...won't be necessary. I think I can convince someone to come along just fine, no catching required." he offered, turning to Maple. She looked back at him, confused, having only heard half of the preceding conversation.

**Winter: **Whatever, we'll leave tomorrow morning, so you had better find someone by then.

**Cricket: **Come on Winter, shouldn't you be a little more excited at the fact that you've just _spoken to a scavenger!_

**Winter: **I was, until you ruined it by bringing up that letter. And I still think there's something wrong with this one! He just seems...weird.

_(Laugh Track)_

_Winter flies off, leaving Cricket and Reggie in the den._

Reggie frowned, watching the IceWing fly off toward the nearby fortress. He remembered the common stereotype of the cold, pompous IceWing often seen in the movies, and this one seemed to embody it perfectly, almost comically so.

**Cricket:** It's nice to see that some things never change.

_(Laugh Track)_

_Cricket bends her neck down to get a closer look at Reggie._

**Cricket: **Well I know what I'm doing today! I've got so many questions for you, I-I don't even know where to start!

"Do ya mind holding off on that, actually?" Reggie replied, backing away from the HiveWing's beaming snout. She'd gotten so close to him that he could smell her breath, and it wasn't great. He paused, scratching the back of his head. "At least give me some time to find a place to settle down for the night."

_Cricket backs away, trying her best not to look disappointed._

**Cricket:** Oh, yeah, that makes sense. I'll uh, I'll go check on Winter. But when I get back, I want to know _everything_ about you!

_Cricket rises up into the air, pausing for a moment to wave goodbye to Reggie, before heading off for the fortress._

_(Laugh Track)_

Reggie watched the HiveWing fly away, and let out a sigh of relief. He saw Maple walking out from the shadow of a tree. She smiled at him, putting her hands on her hips.

"So what was all of that about anyway?" she asked, "And why did you give me a look like you wanted something?"

"Oh, uh, I'll tell ya when I find a place to sleep, alright?"

Maple walked closer to him, looking him up and down. "Okay." she began, "You can come stay in my hut, but first, would you mind telling me where you're from? Because you sure don't seem like anybody that I've ever met!"

"Would you believe me if I said I was from another world?"

Maple let out a bombastic laugh, causing a few heads to peek out of some of the nearby huts. "A human who can talk to dragons is one thing, but another world? Who do you think you're fooling pal?" she chortled. She bent over, hands on her knees, and looked at his white jumpsuit. "Then again, your outfit isn't like anything I've ever seen before, and it's remarkably clean!"

Reggie chuckled. "Clean? What are you talking about? I haven't washed this thing in a week!" he said, half expecting the laugh track to follow. But all that followed was an awkward silence.

"What, no laughter?" he mumbled, "_Clearly_ this place doesn't understand true comedy."

"I know, weird right?" Maple said, slightly startling Reggie. "It only seems to happen when the dragons are around."

"You can hear it too?!" Reggie asked.

"All of us can." she said, "It's been happening for the past few months now."

"So it wasn't always like this?"

Maple shook her head. "No, and it's really weird too, like there's an invisible group of people watching us. You never really get used to it."

_Filmed in front of a live studio audience._

"That's it!" Reggie shouted, "It's a sitcom, like on TV!"

Maple stared at him in confusion, and Reggie realized that she more than likely had never heard of what a TV is. He sighed. "Ah, never mind, you wouldn't get it." he said, "We should probably head to your house before that HiveWing comes back."

"You mean that yellow and black dragon with the glasses?" Maple asked, and Reggie nodded. He was already starting to feel tired after everything that had happened.

Maple guided him through the small collection of huts to the one he had seen her dart from earlier. She knocked on the wooden door twice, and when it didn't open, she slammed it open herself.

The room was nearly barren, two crude straw mats were set in the corner of the dirt floor, and a wall mounted torch cast flickering shadows across the wooden walls. In the corner of the room, opposite the mats, stood a man with pale skin and dirty blond hair. He wore similar rags as Maple, and stared at the two fearfully, pointing a quivering hand at Reggie.

"Wh-What's that...that _dragonspeaker_ doing here Maple? Are you out of your mind!" he said.

Maple frowned. "This is Reggie, and he's going to be sleeping here tonight, _Twig_. And if you don't like it, then you can _leave_."

The man stood quivering for a moment, before bolting out the door. "My name is Branch!" he shouted as he darted into another one of the wooden dwellings. Maple shut the door behind him, and motioned for Reggie to sit next to her on the straw mats.

"So, you gonna tell me what it is you want from me?" she asked as he crouched down on the thin layer of straw. Reggie turned to her, grinning.

"Oh, I was just going to ask if you wanted to go on a little trip with me to Jade Mountain." he said casually.

Maple's face seemed to light up for a brief second, but she quickly suppressed it, taking on a more serious expression. "And what makes you think that I'll just go with you like that?" she asked, though Reggie could tell that she was dying to be outside of the walled-in village.

"I'll teach you how to speak draconic."

Maple didn't hesitate for a second, dropping her serious facade and sticking out her right hand. "Deal!" she said, and the two shook on it.

The next morning, they would depart for Jade Mountain Academy.

* * *

**AN: Now I know that script format stories aren't allowed on this site, but this is only going to be a one time thing for these few chapters, and it's not even completely script format anyway. That said I do think the semi-script format sections of this chapter are the weaker bits, but that should be expected since this is my first time writing like this. Once again I promise that there is an interesting reason for why these chapters will be like this, and it should become apparent by the next chapter (though some of you might have an idea as to where I'm going with this already ;) ).**

**The next chapter might be dropping sooner than normal, as it was originally part of this one and has already been partially written. I decided to split it up since it seemed like it was going through this part too quickly, and I wanted to spend a little more time in Sanctuary. I've also asked my sister to help draw a new cover page for this story, and I hope to have it ready by the end of this set of chapters, but I'll just have to see how things turn out with that. Stay tuned!**


	18. Chapter 18: The Jade Winglet

**Review Responses:**

**Pt35 - I remember a brief time as a kid when I wanted to own a farm, mainly because I was playing FarmVille 2 way back then. It sounds like a lot of work!**

**QueenGlorytheFirst - This chapter will pretty much reveal what's happening in this world, and it would be neat to see how close your prediction was!**

* * *

**Chapter 18: The Jade Winglet**

* * *

**Sanctuary**

**Sunrise**

Reggie walked groggily past the wooden huts, rubbing his eyes as they adjusted to the early morning light. The quaint village remained shrouded in the shadow of the circular barricade that surrounded it, the only hints of sunrise coming from the reddish orange glow of the sky above.

He'd barely gotten any sleep the previous night, Cricket had kept him up till nearly midnight asking him questions about himself. He'd been careful not to tell her about coming from another timeline, simply explaining that he didn't really live like the other people here, and thus would be a bad source of information on the subject. That didn't stop her though, and Cricket had continued to bombard him with questions until she managed to tire herself out.

Reggie did feel a little bad about not telling her the truth, but he felt it would be best not to tell any of the dragons here where he was from. Maple was one thing, and she didn't even seem to fully believe him. But there was something wrong with the dragons in this timeline, and it put Reggie on edge.

Even when he was finally able to get some peace and quiet, though, Reggie still struggled to get some shut eye. His mind couldn't help but worry about whether or not he would really find Hidden and Lin at Jade Mountain. What was he going to do if they had been captured by another evil monarch, or some all powerful being? He was just a man on this massive continent, without the brains nor the brawn to be able to fend for himself.

He eventually passed through a thin line of trees, Maple at his side, and was met by Winter and Cricket, a large metal birdcage in the IceWing's talons. As they neared, Maple got ready to step into the cage, when Reggie grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"Uh, listen pal." he said, looking up at Winter, "There is _no way_ we're riding in that thing, got it? We have dignity you know." If there was one thing worse to him than doing a dragon the indignity of riding them, it was being done the indignity of being carried around in a bird cage like a pet.

Maple shot him a confused glance for a second, and Reggie quickly whispered in her ear. "_I just told him we're not riding in the cage. Trust me, you'll thank me later_."

_Winter and Cricket turn to each other, and Cricket shrugs. Winter sets the cage aside._

_(Laugh Track)_

**Cricket:** I guess he can ride you there instead, if you're okay with that, Winter?

_Winter grunts, and Cricket takes that as a yes, nodding to Reggie._

Reggie turned to Maple, a smile on his face, and dragged her over next to Winter, who had begrudgingly kneeled down. For a second, Maple didn't seem to understand what exactly Reggie was doing, but as he hoisted himself up onto the IceWing's cold blue scales, her face was suddenly overcome with excitement.

"Y-You can't _actually_ be serious Reggie!" she said, a wide grin on her face. Reggie nodded, and motioned for her to join him on the IceWing's back. After taking a moment to come to her senses, she quickly scrambled up the IceWing's foreleg, nearly slipping off in the process. She sat right behind Reggie, marveling at the icy blue scales all around her, and when Winter quickly got to his feet, she immediately wrapped her arms around Reggie's torso fearfully to brace herself.

**Cricket:** Aw! They look so cute together!

_(Laugh Track)_

"What'd she say?" Maple asked.

"She said we look cute together." Reggie said with a sly grin. Maple immediately let go of Reggie, wiping her hands off on Winter's back, a disgusted look on her face. Winter had turned his head to look at the two, and Reggie swore he saw the faintest of smile's on the IceWing's face, but it was quickly brushed away.

_Winter turns to Cricket._

**Winter: **Are you coming too?

**Cricket:** Well, as much as I want to, someone has to stay here to keep this place running. Plus, I _really _want to try teaching the other scavengers how to speak our language too. But you had better tell me everything that happens over...wait...do you smell smoke?

_Cricket suddenly turns toward the village, a large cloud of smoke rising from a burning hut. The shouting of many angry scavengers gathered around it can be heard._

**Cricket:** Oh moons, not again!

_(Laugh Track)_

_Cricket runs off toward the village, leaving Winter with the two scavengers on his back._

Reggie stared at the burning hut for a moment, watching the HiveWing attempting to put out the fire with the aid of Pieridae and Caiman. He recognized it as the hut he and Maple had spent the previous night in. Turning to Maple, he was surprised to see nothing more than a look of disapproval on her face.

"It was a crummy hut anyway." she said, smiling at Reggie. "We've got other things to worry about now, right?"

Reggie smiled, and nodded to Winter.

_Winter sighs, and lifts into the sky, the two humans on his back._

Reggie watched the ground slowly grow further and further away as the IceWing lifted into the air. He turned, looking out at the horizon beyond the dull grey walls of Sanctuary. Out there was an entire continent, two if one counted Pantala. The sea of birch trees seemed to stretch out forever, their orange and red leaves a shimmering carpet in the light of the sunrise.

Reggie sighed, staring out at the vast ocean of leaves before him. Somewhere out there were Hidden and Lin, and the shuttle that acted as their lifeline to the Salvation. He was making a gamble, heading to Jade Mountain, but there weren't many other options available to him. He was only human, after all.

_Winter flies off toward Jade Mountain Academy._

* * *

**North of Jade Mountain**

**Late Afternoon**

"So, _growl grumble grrr_ means 'Back off!' in draconic, right?"

"Roughly, though your inflection on the _grrr _is a little off. Say it like that and it sounds like you're flirting!"

Maple broke down into laughter. Throughout the flight, she had been eagerly absorbing every new phrase Reggie could teach her in draconic. He'd already taught her some basic lines, like "Hello!", "Over here!", and "Chill dude!", and while he certainly didn't consider himself the greatest teacher in the world, Maple seemed to be picking up on things quite quickly.

_She's certainly a better student than I ever was. _Reggie thought. He turned to Winter, the IceWing focused on the path ahead. He'd only ever given the two humans the occasional glance, and hadn't uttered a word since they had left Sanctuary. Whatever was waiting at Jade Mountain seemed to have him deeply concerned.

Reggie looked on ahead, and spotted the unmistakable twin peaks of Jade Mountain standing tall on the horizon. "We'll have to resume this later, we're almost there." he said, turning back to Maple. Her face lit up with wonder at the sight of the tallest mountain in Pyrrhia.

"I-It's even more beautiful than I imagined!" she said enthusiastically. "I'd always wanted to see this place, though I was never able to leave my village. Then the dragons came and built a giant wall around it, and I figured I'd never get the chance to see the world, you know?"

Reggie smiled. "You could come with us, once I find Hidden and Lin, that is." he offered, "There's a whole _multiverse_ out there for you to see!"

Maple chuckled. "Yeah, sure there is." She suddenly squinted, staring at Jade Mountain in confusion. "Hey...wasn't Jade Mountain only supposed to have two peaks?" she asked, pointing at their destination.

Reggie turned around, and sure enough, there seemed to be a third peak jutting off of the mountain. At first Reggie wondered if it was just a quirk of this timeline, but as they drew closer, he realized that it wasn't a peak after all. It was a castle!

The structure was magnificent, with sweeping walls of dark grey stone and massive stained glass windows that shimmered in the sunlight. Many towers jutted out of the central keep, hanging out over the craggy earth below by nothing more than a few arched pathways. It was a magical sight to behold.

Reggie wondered if that was the Jade Mountain Academy they were supposed to be heading to, similar to a book series about a magic school inside of a massive castle he had read years ago. But Winter didn't seem to be heading to the grandiose structure, instead veering to the left to fly towards the other side of the mountain.

As the IceWing descended around the craggy peaks, and the magnificent castle was lost from view, Reggie turned his attention down towards the trees and crags rushing past below. At one point, Reggie _swore_ he saw a NightWing standing on one of the rocky ledges, watching them as they flew past. There was something odd about him, a different odd from the other dragons of this timeline. He had what looked like thick wires draped all across his body. But before Reggie could get a good look at him, Winter whisked around another bend, and arrived above a wide landing, the wide entrance to a massive cavern to its side.

_Winter lands on the mountain, and warily looks into the cave ahead. He hesitantly moves closer, tensing._

"Is...this it?" Reggie heard Maple say. The cavern ahead of them was huge, light streaming in through small leaf covered holes cut into the rock. Streamers of colorful leaves and flowers hung from the ceiling, and Reggie could make out what looked like a large gong on a raised ledge at the end of the massive cavern. Other than that though, the place seemed empty, not a dragon in sight.

**Kinkajou:** My prince is back!

_Kinkajou drops her camouflage and tackles Winter, taking him to the ground._

_(Laugh Track)_

Reggie and Maple were thrown from the IceWing's back, rolling across the hard rock of the landing as the IceWing was pinned to the ground. Reggie groaned, slowly getting up off of the ground. He'd sustained a few cuts and bruises from the fall, but nothing seemed broken. His white jumpsuit was pretty torn and dirtied, though.

He turned to Maple, who had already gotten to her feet and was brushing off her dirty shirt. Reggie got the impression that she had experienced falls like this before, something a city slicker like himself wouldn't be privy to.

**Winter:** Kinkajou...hrng...get off of me you lunatic!

_(Laugh Track)_

_Kinkajou steps off of Winter, beaming. Winter gets to his feet, shooting a glare at the RainWing._

**Kinkajou:** Aw Winter! You're so _cool_ when you're angry!

**Winter:** No, I'm not! I mean...I uh….

_(Laugh Track)_

_Kinkajou rushes over and grabs Winter's right foreleg._

**Kinkajou:** Come on! You've gotta come say hi to the rest of the Winglet, it's been _ages_ since we've last seen you!

_Winter swipes his leg out of Kinkajou's grasp, growing increasingly irritated._

**Winter:** I am here on _official_ _business_ from Sanctuary, and nothing more.

**Kinkajou:** Oh, right! You brought the scavengers, didn't you? Where are they?

_Winter gestures to Reggie and Maple, and Kinkajou immediately bounds right over to them, a wide grin on her face._

**Kinkajou:** Oh. My. Moons! They're so cute! I just want to hug them and squeeze them and….

_(Laugh Track)_

Reggie had already grown tired of this RainWing's giddiness, and had taken a cautious step back in case she got any ideas. He turned to his left, and was surprised to see Maple standing by his side. He'd have expected her to split the moment the RainWing came bounding over, but she seemed to trust in him, even if her face looked exceptionally worried.

_Sunny steps out of the main cave, pleasantly surprised to see Winter._

**Sunny: **Oh, Winter! Is it really you?

_Winter grunts, nodding his head._

_(Laugh Track)_

**Sunny:** Well, it's really nice to have you back! There's an empty student sleeping cave you can take for the time being. I could show you where….

**Winter:** I know where to go.

_Winter attempts to walk off without another word, but is stopped by Qibli, stepping out from behind a large boulder just inside of the cave._

**Qibli: **You know Winter, just 'cause you're the last IceWing, doesn't mean you have to be so _cold_.

_(Laugh Track)_

**Qibli: **Come on, the least you could do is say hi to everyone, right Kinkajou.

_Kinkajou turns to the two, nodding vigorously. Winter sighs._

**Winter: **Hi.

_(Laugh Track)_

_Winter stomps off down a branching cavern._

**Qibli: **Looks like _someone's_ not having an _ice _day.

_(Laugh Track)_

"Uh, Reggie? What's with that scrunched up look on your face."

Reggie paused for a moment, chuckling to himself as he rubbed the messy tuft of brown hair on his head. "Ah...ha ha...I can't wait to get out of this timeline…."

**Kinkajou:** Aw! He didn't even tell us the scavenger's names.

Reggie turned to Maple, shrugging, and stepped forward, holding a hand in the air. "Uh, my name's Reggie, and this is Maple. You're Kinkajou, right?" he said in draconic.

_Kinkajou and Sunny's mouths drop. Qibli faints._

_(Laugh Track)_

**Kinkajou: **THREE MOONS! A TALKING SCAVENGER! Omigosh omigosh omigosh! I have so many questions! Like, why do you always try to steal treasure? Are you really as smart as dragons? Wait, who am I kidding, of course you are if you can talk! Oh, we're _so _winning the science fair!

_(Laugh Track)_

"What's all this about a 'talking scavenger'?"

Reggie froze, the deep booming voice resonating through his bones. He slowly turned his head around, seeing a NightWing nearly as tall as a (human sized) skyscraper landing behind them. The dragon's hulking form towered above the two humans, his star speckled wings blocking out the light of the sun. A shiny silver crown with a dark purple gem inlaid in it rested between his swirling silver horns.

Reggie didn't think he'd ever felt more terrified in his life, even when they first took off in the Salvation! He briefly glanced at Maple, who stood trembling before the titanic mass of black scales. The NightWing stared at the two humans, and donned a grin that sent shivers down Reggie's spine.

**Kinkajou: **Oh, hi King Darkstalker!

* * *

**AN:**

**This chapter came out a lot earlier since I already had it planned and partially written (it was originally a part of the previous chapter). I'm also thinking of moving my upload day from Wednesday to Saturday. I've been working on establishing a regular weekly schedule for this story, so we'll see how that turns out. Hope you liked the big twist (though some of you may have seen it coming)!**


	19. Chapter 19: King of the World

**Review Responses:**

**Pt35 - I'm glad my story seems to have some weight to is, and you're spot on about the curve balls, there's a lot more on the way!**

**QueenGlorytheFirst - I'm curious about where you initially thought this timeline would be going, and I hope you like the way I'm taking it.**

* * *

**Chapter 19: King of the World**

* * *

**Jade Mountain Academy**

**Afternoon**

Reggie was petrified with fear, staring up at the NightWing which towered above him. He'd never seen a dragon like them before, and not just because of the size. Silver teardrop scales rested behind each of his jet black eyes, and shimmering bands of white scales ran along the inside of each of the NightWing's boney wing appendages. Whatever this dragon was, he wasn't like any other NightWing Reggie had seen.

"I see Winter has come and brought a couple of scavengers from Sanctuary." The NightWing boomed, his voice shaking the tiny pebbles scattered about Reggie's feet. "It's nice to see him stepping out of that place for once, he could use the fresh air."

**Kinkajou:** I know, right?

_(Laugh Track)_

"Wh-Who...what…." Reggie sputtered in draconic.

**Kinkajou: **Reggie, uh..._Maple?_

_(Laugh Track)_

**Kinkajou: **This is Darkstalker, king of the world!

"K-King of the...the _world?_" Reggie said, the words barely coming to his mouth. He stared up at the NightWing's imposing face, and the shimmering crown atop his head. _This can't be good…._

"Well, I wouldn't put it _that _way." King Darkstalker said, donning an embarrassed grin and scratching the back of his head. Reggie had seen better acting in his elementary school Integration Day play.

"I'd more call myself an...overseer of the other queens. Just to make sure the peace is maintained." the NightWing King continued. He craned his long neck down, peering closer at the two trembling humans, and smiled. "So, you're the talking scavenger, aren't you?" he asked, "And this is...your girlfriend?"

_(Laugh Track)_

Reggie was too terrified to be offended, but in his state of fear induced hypersensitivity, he noticed a slight shift in King Darkstalker's expression. It wasn't much, just a brief shift in his gaze and a slight widening to his grin. But it was enough to clue Reggie in.

_This _dragon could hear the laugh track.

"I have to say, the Jade Winglet's science project is looking quite promising." the King continued, returning to his normal, imposing posture.

_Sunny steps closer, turning to Reggie, and then to King Darkstalker._

**Sunny:** You don't think, maybe, that he could be enchanted. You know, to be able to talk?

Darkstalker shook his head. "You know very well that I'm the only dragon with animus magic in the world, and I certainly didn't put any enchantments on him." he said, a slight grin on his face.

"I'd know if that were the case, anyway." he explained, tapping a bracelet on his right foreleg. Reggie wasn't quite sure what he meant, or what an "animus" even was. But whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

The NightWing King turned to leave, his massive tail sweeping over the heads of the humans and dragonets. His titanic wings swept a powerful gust of air upon the landing, sending dust and debris flying and forcing Reggie and Maple to brace themselves.

"Oh, and one more thing." King Darkstalker said, turning back to the gathered group. "You'd better keep a close eye on those scavengers of yours, or they might end up in places they shouldn't be." He stared at Reggie in particular as he said this, a gleam in his eye.

_Oh no...no no no no no. _Reggie thought, watching the mass of black scales soar off around the mountain to the castle on the other side. _It's him, _he _has Hidden and Lin._

Reggie collapsed to the rocky earth, clutching his head.

_What am I going to do…._

* * *

**Jade Mountain Academy Student Caves**

**Evening**

Reggie awoke with a start, whipping his head left and right as he took in his new surroundings. He was in a cave, much smaller than the one he had seen from outside the mountain. An opening in one side of the chamber led to a long tunnel lit by the dying flames of torches. Inside of the cave were three stone ledges, upon one of which lay Winter, silently reading a scroll.

Reggie scratched his head, squinting, and realized that he was upon one of the stone ledges as well. He slowly meandered over to the edge, looking over at the somewhat long drop to the ground below.

**Winter: **Need some help getting down?

Reggie turned to the IceWing and shook his head. "Nah." he groggily said, "I think I can manage." He carefully pulled himself over the edge, trying his best to find adequate footholds as he descended the side of the ledge. His fatigue got the best of him though, and he slipped, landing on his rear on the rocky cave floor. He half expected a laugh track to follow, but thankfully, none did.

He slowly got to his feet, and looked around the cave once again. "Hold on...how did I…?" he mumbled, trying to remember what had happened the previous afternoon.

**Winter: **Kinkajou said you fainted, and she brought you to me hoping I could wake you up. Apparently she thinks I can work miracles like King Darkstalker.

_(Laugh Track)_

The name hit him like a freight train, immediately reminding him of the events hours prior. _King Darkstalker! He has Hidden and Lin! What am I going to do?!_

Ever since he'd laid eyes on the NightWing, his terrifying image had been etched into the back of Reggie's mind. He'd spent the rest of the afternoon in a half daze, mind racing as he tried and failed to come up with some idea as to what to do next. He vaguely remembered Maple asking him if he was alright, and the RainWing, Kinkajou, grabbing him and Maple and carrying them off to a cave similar to this one, saying something about keeping him a surprise. But after that all he could remember was her loud, excited voice droning off into the distance as his mind slipped into unconsciousness.

"I-I just...didn't get much sleep last night, back in Sanctuary. That's all." He said, only half telling the truth. He didn't want to alert any of these dragons that he suspected their beloved king of kidnapping Hidden and Lin. Even then he could still feel the NightWing's presence looming over him.

"Hey, Winter?" Reggie began, hoping a conversation would help ease his tension. "I heard that SandWing back there say that you're the last IceWing. Is that...true?"

_Winter groans, turning from his scroll to address Reggie._

**Winter:** You mean you haven't heard of the Arctic Virus?

Reggie shook his head.

_Winter sighs, turning back to his scroll._

**Winter: **About a year or so ago, all the IceWings died off from this disease, the Arctic Virus. Somehow, I was the only one who was immune. Lucky me….

"Moons...that's just...that's terrible." Reggie said, suddenly feeling a great deal more pity for the aloof IceWing. "I...I'm so sorry."

**Winter: **What's really terrible is having to spend the next two nights in the same cave as that neurotic RainWing.

Reggie was taken aback by Winter's nonchalant attitude, the IceWing didn't seem at all concerned about the loss of his species. Reggie stared at Winter, and for a brief moment, he thought he could see a hint of sadness in the IceWing's eyes.

_(Laugh Track)_

But it was gone before he could even blink, the canned laughter washing away any sign of true emotion. Reggie paused for a moment, and decided to change the subject.

"So uh, I heard that Darkstalker guy mention something called an "animus". Do you know what that is?"

**Winter:** That's _King_ Darkstalker. And an animus is a dragon that can enchant things to do, well pretty much anything, except raise the dead. It's why the King took away all the other animus' powers. We wouldn't want a bunch of powerful, psychotic dragons flying around turning everyone into walruses, would we?

_(Laugh Track)_

_Can enchant things to do whatever they want, except raise the dead. That's gotta include teleportation, right? But, how did he know we were here in the first place, he couldn't have predicted that, could he?_ Reggie thought, _Good going Reggie, now you've made yourself even more paranoid._

_What was I thinking, getting so excited to go on some big adventure. Scratch that, I wasn't thinking, as usual. And now look at me, all on my own against a giant magical NightWing King._

Reggie heard the sound of footsteps approaching the cave, and turned to see Maple peering in from the hall. "Reggie! Oh, good! You're up!" she whispered to him, "Come on, I've gotta show you something!"

"Maple? Where were you?" Reggie whispered back, "And why are we whispering?"

Maple briefly looked around, checking to make sure that nobody was watching. "I was just snooping around the main cave, and I found this weird tunnel that doesn't seem to be on the big map posted near the entrance." she explained, "And I'm whispering, because I don't want to wake up that crazy rainforest dragon!"

"I think you mean _RainWing_." Reggie replied, smiling. He turned back to Winter, but the IceWing had fallen asleep, face buried in the scroll. "Alright, I think I'll come check it out. That giant NightWing will probably haunt my nightmares if I try to get some sleep anyway."

Maple chuckled, and the two of them began making their way down the long cavern connecting the student caves. Most of the students seemed to be asleep, and the ones who weren't didn't seem to notice them passing by. But as they neared the last few caves, Reggie heard the sound of voices speaking in draconic.

He quickly held his arm out, motioning Maple to silently follow him as they snuck up against the wall next to the noisy cave. Reggie peered in, and saw the SandWing from earlier, Qibli, if he remembered correctly, talking to a male SeaWing with spirals of bioluminescent scales beneath his wings.

**Qibli:** _Come on_, Turtle! I've seen the way you look at her! Trust me, that stupid grin you make is unforgettable.

_(Laugh Track)_

**Turtle: **It's not stupid! And besides, she's too fixated on Winter anyway. Why would she ever bother with someone like me?

**Qibli:** See, there you go again. Just because you're only one of the million SeaWing princes, doesn't mean you're not special.

_(Laugh Track)_

**Qibli:** Get out there and ask her to go out with you one night, you're in her Winglet for moons sake! That's something you have over that ice cube!

_(Laugh Track)_

**Turtle: **Easy for you to say, you've never had anyone you've felt that way about.

"What are they talking about?" Maple asked, leaning in to get a better look at the two dragons.

Reggie shrugged. "Just ships n' stuff, nothing important. Come on, we're burning moonlight."

The two of them silently slipped by the chatting duo and made their way into the central cavern of Jade Mountain Academy, lacking any torches to light the way. Reggie stared up at the dark abyss of the rocky ceiling high above his head, the chamber seeming even more expansive now in the shroud of night.

They turned right, heading along the darkened cavern wall by nothing but the faint streams of moonlight filtering in through the many small leaf covered windows. They passed the massive gong, it's bronze surface casting eerie beams of white moonlight onto the cavern floor, and arrived at the tunnel in question.

"You sure this is it?" Reggie questioned, peering into the small, jagged opening in the wall. While it was still much larger than the two humans, it looked a bit small for a dragon to squeeze through, and there were no torches lighting the way forward like there were in the student caves, only darkness.

Maple reached behind her and pulled out a thick branch with a piece of cloth tied around the end of it. She grabbed a piece of flint and a small metal coin out of a pouch on her shirt, and lit the torch, holding it out to illuminate the dark passage.

"Where'd you get that?" Reggie asked, staring at the flickering flame in Maple's hands.

"I threw it together while I was snooping around the caves." Maple explained, "The flint and steel are mine though. Always be prepared, right?"

Maple smiled, and Reggie smiled back, nodding his head. The two of them stepped forth into the dark passageway, their flickering flame guiding them as they descended further into Jade Mountain.

The narrow caves would have been cramped and difficult to maneuver for a dragon, but to a couple of humans, they were surprisingly tame. Reggie and Maple navigated the many twists and turns of the tunnel, carefully watching for anything that could be lurking in the dark. It almost felt like they were in one of those haunted houses Reggie had visited back in his own timeline. He always hated those.

They soon entered a wide chamber, and Reggie leapt back in fright, the form of a large NightWing emerging from the darkness. _It's him, he's here! What do we do now!_ he thought, panicked.

Maple turned to him skeptically, and held her torch up closer to the figure. It's flickering orange glow illuminated the dragon's dull grey face, revealing it to be nothing more than a stone statue. Reggie quickly realized that it was much too small to have been King Darkstalker anyway, sighing with relief, and a twinge of embarrassment too.

Maple walked closer to the statue, it's motionless figure lying on the rough cavern floor. She brushed a hand over its stone scales, admiring the detail in each one. "Moons, this thing is beautiful." she said, "It almost looks..._real_."

_Why would anyone make something like this here?_ Reggie thought, staring at the stone dragon's face. It looked so peaceful, lying there in the darkness of the cave. Yet, it still set him on edge.

"Come on Maple, we should...really be going." Reggie suggested. Maple nodded, and the two of them left the creepy statue behind as they continued further into the mountain.

As they rounded another bend, Reggie noticed the distinct glow of torches emanating from further down the tunnel. At first he thought they had gone in a complete circle and wound up right back in the student caves, but as they grew closer Reggie noticed the cavern walls smoothly transitioning into pristinely carved stone bricks.

He stepped closer to the unnatural walls, the bricks seemingly growing out of the mountain rock. Even when the passage had fully transitioned from rough cavern to smooth brick, there was still something odd about it. The bricks seemed perfect, not a scratch on them, the many torches hanging from the walls glowing brighter than the sun.

"Reggie, you don't think…?" he heard Maple ask. Reggie nodded, there was no doubt about it. They were in the castle built onto the side of Jade Mountain, and judging by the lack of ornamental detail and dull grey tone to the bricks, he guessed they were in one of its lower levels.

"Looks like we walked right into the belly of the beast." Reggie commented.

"This castle, you don't think it belongs to that giant black dragon we saw earlier, do you?" Maple asked. Reggie realized that she hadn't been filled in on their current situation yet.

"Yeah, it is." Reggie confirmed. "He's basically King of the World, and also has nearly unlimited magic power too, apparently." A small part of him still wanted to deny the existence of magic in this timeline, but by this point the evidence was becoming pretty conclusive.

Maple stood in silence for a moment, processing what Reggie had just said. She took another look around the hallway, eyeing the point where it connected with the caves. "An all powerful dragon who rules the world, huh?" she mused, "What are the odds he _didn't_ use those powers to seize control?"

"There's...one more thing…." Reggie continued. "I'm pretty sure that he has the dragons I'm looking for, Hidden and Lin."

Maple smiled. "Then I guess it's a good thing I found that tunnel, huh? If your friends are here, then we should go find them!"

"Are you nuts! Did you _not_ hear what I just said!" Reggie said in a loud whisper, "We need to get out of here, now! If the King finds out we're here…."

**Clearsight: **Oh, Darkstalker already knows that you're here.

Reggie and Maple leapt back in unison, letting out a startled yelp.

_Clearsight smiles at the two, waving a talon._

"What...how...where did you…?" Reggie stuttered in draconic.

**Clearsight:** The futures where you came here were practically screaming in my head. Plus, Darkstalker asked if I could come greet you two.

"W-What are you talking about? Futures?"

**Clearsight: **Oh, right. My foresight allows me to see every possible future. It's how I knew where you would be, and that you are about to ask what my name is. It's Clearsight, by the way.

Reggie _was_ just about to ask her about her name, though that was hardly something difficult to predict. Still, if magic really existed in this timeline, then anything could be possible.

"So, are you going to turn us in, or what?" he hesitantly asked, gazing up at the NightWing. She seemed pretty young, likely just older than seven. She had a friendly demeanor, and wore a silver crown similar to the one donned King Darkstalker himself.

_Is she...related to him, somehow?_ Reggie thought.

**Clearsight:** No, I'm not here to capture you. My husband could easily do that himself if he wanted to, and he'd much appreciate it if you came to him willingly instead.

"Wait, so that'd make you…?"

**Clearsight: **The Queen? Yes, you could say that.

_Clearsight turns back, pointing a talon at a stairwell branching off of the left side of the hallway._

**Clearsight: **Your friends are down that way, in the dungeons. Darkstalker's waiting there for you, and I'd suggest that you don't keep him waiting. He can be _quite_ impatient at times.

_Clearsight chuckles, and turns back to the two humans._

**Clearsight: **Now I must be going, my husband and I are thinking of having dragonets soon, and there are quite a few preparations to be made.

"Hold on!" Reggie shouted as the NightWing was just about to leave. "How did he know we were here, did you tell him?"

**Clearsight: **Darkstalker has foresight powers just like mine, though _slightly weaker._ I think he likes it that way though, so then I can have a special power to call my own. Anyway, it was nice meeting you!

_Clearsight walks off further down the hallway and takes a branching path right._

"What was that about?" Maple asked, staring at the brownish grey brick wall Clearsight had disappeared behind.

"I...think we just met the Queen." Reggie explained. "She told me where to find Hidden and Lin, and apparently the King's waiting for us there too."

"It's obviously a trap. You know that, right?"

"Weren't you the one who wanted to keep going?"

Maple grinned knowingly. "So you're _not_ planning on running away now?" she said, extinguishing her torch.

Reggie shrugged. "If we do, he'll probably just magically teleport us to him anyway. What other choices do we have?" He turned, starting to walk towards the stairwell leading to the castle's dungeons, when Maple called out.

"Hold on!" she shouted. Reggie paused, turning back to her. "You think you could teach me some more of that Draconic on the way there?" Maple asked, walking up beside Reggie as she slid the torch back into the back of her shirt. "I'm starting to feel left out here."

"Sure, I think I can squeeze in a bit more." Reggie replied.

The two made their way to the stairwell, and carefully descended each of the spiraling, dragon sized steps, all the while Reggie explaining the draconic alphabet to Maple. She was picking it up quickly, and Reggie quite enjoyed teaching her. It made him feel good about his own intelligence for once.

Upon reaching the bottom of the stairwell, the two were met by a large hallway, similar in design to the ones above, yet somehow just a tad more unnerving. Perhaps it was the torches, which seemed slightly dimmer than the ones above, or perhaps it was the giant steel and wood door that stood at the end of the hall.

Reggie and Maple approached the door slowly, silently, carefully eyeing the reinforced wooden planks as if they could lash out and kill them at any moment. As they passed by the last pair of torches on the sheer walls, the doors suddenly swung open, just a crack, but enough to let a human squeeze through.

Was it magic that had opened the doors? Reggie wasn't quite sure, but the thought of squeezing between the two titanic walls of steel and wood, which could spontaneously close at any second, killing him instantly, was not in the least bit appealing. He turned to Maple, who seemed to agree. Going through there was a bad idea for numerous reasons.

Maple quickly pointed up at a small alcove on the upper right corner of the wall. Three thick metal bars sealed it off, but a human could easily squeeze between them. Reggie nodded, and Maple ran over to the wall, latching on to the bricks as she clawed her way up to the ledge.

Reggie was amazed at how quickly and easily she was able to scale the wall. In a matter of seconds, she was already hoisting herself into the rectangular opening, motioning for him to follow suit.

Reggie hesitantly walked up to the wall, and sticking his fingers and toes into the shallow grooves between the bricks, began hoisting himself up. Each brick was half his height, and more than once his grip would slip, nearly sending him falling down to the hard stone floor below. The higher he went, the more difficult the climb seemed to become, but he had to get to the top, for Hidden and Lin's sake.

Just as he was about to grab one of the metal bars, one of the bricks beneath his feat gave way, and he felt himself drop towards the ground far below. Maple quickly lunged forward, catching his arm before he could fall to a grizzly death.

"Hrrng! _Moons_ Reggie, what have you been _eating!_" she groaned as she struggled to hoist him up onto the platform. Reggie grabbed the ledge with his free hand, using all of his strength to help pull himself up.

"I haven't eaten anything since yesterday morning!" Reggie grunted back. He slowly clambered up onto the ledge, and rolled onto his back, panting. "How…*huff*...how are you so good at that anyway…."

"You have _no_ idea how many times I've tried scaling that wall around my village, trust me."

The two of them sat chuckling for a bit as Reggie caught his breath. He eventually stood up, examining the tunnel ahead.

They seemed to have wound up in a primitive ventilation shaft, the roof only a head taller than the two of them. Spaced out along the left side of the passage were similar barred openings to the one they had slipped through.

The two silently crept through the shaft, Reggie peering out of each set of bars they passed by for any signs of Hidden and Lin. But the cells of the dungeon, if one could even call them that, were completely empty, no bars, no chains, no prisoners. Reggie wondered if Hidden and Lin were being held in a cell directly beneath them, on the other side of the hallway, when a booming voice stopped him in his tracks.

"So, you've finally decided to show up?"

Reggie froze, Maple just behind them. They were just about to reach the final set of bars, the shaft coming to an abrupt end just after. The two of them slowly snuck up just beside the opening, peering out at the space below.

Before them stood a NightWing, a silver crown on his head, staring at the final cell on the far side of the hallway. In it were two dragons, a SandWing, and an EarthWing.

"I must say that I was hoping to speak to you face to face." King Darkstalker continued, turning his head to look up at the bars Reggie and Maple were hiding behind. He seemed much smaller than when Reggie had last seen him, though that was probably so he could fit in the hallways of the castle.

"Very well, if you really want to hide up there, then I guess you can watch while I interrogate your friends." King Darkstalker said, returning his gaze to the two the two prisoners. Reggie briefly waved a hand at Hidden, and Hidden smiled back. Lin remained silent, shutting out the world around her as she meditated in the empty cell.

"So, you're _finally_ going to speak with us. What took ya so long?" Hidden said casually.

"Best watch what you say, _Hidden_, you're in the presence of Royalty you know." the King chided. Hidden seemed slightly put off by King Darkstalker knowing his name, but he quickly shook it off, smirking.

"I've heard that one before." he said.

"Well, as King, I have quite a busy schedule to keep up, so I hope to make this quick. And don't try to lie to me, because I can read your minds you know." the King explained, tapping one of the teardrop scales behind his eyes.

_He can read minds too?!_ Reggie thought, _What powers _doesn't _this guy have?!_ Hidden seemed just as worried as he was, but his expression of concern quickly changed into a mischievous grin.

"Oh, ah! What...what is WRONG with you!" King Darkstalker suddenly shouted, recoiling from the smirking SandWing. He snatched up a rock from the dungeon floor, and after muttering a few words, it transformed into a golden bracelet with black stones encrusted into it. The bracelet floated over to Hidden. Clasping around his left foreleg.

"_There._ That should block out your _disgusting_ thoughts." King Darkstalker said. Hidden examined the bracelet with curiosity, poking one of the black stones inlaid into it.

"This is skyfire, isn't it?" Hidden asked. Reggie thought he remembered hearing something about a super strong, super rare space rock that went by that name. King Darkstalker nodded in affirmation, and Hidden turned to face him. The SandWing walked up to the edge of the alcove, the tips of his wings bumping against an invisible barrier and sending ripples across the front of the cell.

_So _that's _how he keeps prisoners. Gotta admit, that's pretty rad._

"Look, mister Dark sir, we just want to find our way back to our own timeline. If you just let us return to our spaceship, we'll be out of your scales in no time."

"That's _King Darkstalker_ to you, SandWing." Darkstalker hissed, "And by spaceship, do you mean this?"

King Darkstalker held a talon out, holding some sort of device. A small stone pedestal grew out of the floor, and the King set the device down on top of it. Reggie squinted, leaning in to get a closer look, and realized that it was none other than the shuttle they had taken to this timeline, shrunken to fit in a dragon's talon.

Hidden stared at the shuttle in amazement, pressing his snout against the invisible barrier. "Uh, no...I meant the..._bigger _one." he said, "Though I have to admit, that's some pretty impressive magic you got there. Were you born with it, or...did you get it from somewhere? Or maybe you…."

"Shut. Up." King Darkstalker growled. In an instant, all the sound coming from Hidden's mouth ceased. He paused, stepping backward as he tried to speak, but no words left his snout. Hidden let out a frustrated sigh through his nostrils, staring irritably at the NightWing King.

"Ah, that's _so_ much better." King Darkstalker exclaimed. "The futures where you kept talking were _incredibly_ irritating." Hidden looked at Darkstalker with confusion, and the King chuckled.

"Right, I forgot to mention that my foresight lets me see pretty much every possible future our timeline could take. Though, I must admit, it was quite the surprise when you three showed up in your...uh...spaceship, was it? The moment you did, I was absolutely _bombarded_ with new futures, it was overwhelming!"

Hidden seemed intrigued by what King Darkstalker had just said, and Reggie could tell by the look on his face that he was deep in thought. Reggie wondered what had him thinking, did he have a plan?

"Well, my foresight isn't as strong as my beloved's." King Darkstalker continued. "And at any rate, out of all of the futures I see, none of them involve you coming anywhere close to hurting me or the peace that I have brought forth in this world."

The King began pacing back and forth, tapping his chin with a claw. "And as for whether or not I should let you go, while I don't see any futures where that is in any way _bad_ for me, you are still the first dragons to come from another world. I don't think I want to give you up _that_ easily."

He paced about for a few more moments, Hidden watching him silently from behind the barrier, when the King stopped, turning up to the vent opening with a smile on his face, and causing Reggie and Maple to quickly duck out of sight.

"That's it!" he said enthusiastically, "I've got just the idea to solve this conundrum!" He walked back to the cell, staring in at his prisoners.

"While I quite enjoy this peaceful world I have built, it's been getting rather boring as of late. I think a little game could...spice things up a bit." He pointed a talon up at the vent, and the two humans hiding within it. "If your scavenger friends up there can figure out what I've enchanted to keep the peace of this world, then I'll let you go free, you hear that up there?"

Reggie stood, terrified. Why did _he_ have to be the one to do it? What could _he_ do? He turned to Maple, who was leaning back out to see what was happening below. He felt so sorry for her, she had no idea what he had just gotten her wrapped up in.

"Of course, if they fail, I'll incorporate you into my world. But you shouldn't worry, I won't be doing anything to hinder them. There's really no need to, and there are some futures where they do succeed, as few as they are."

The NightWing King looked between the two prisoners once again. Hidden, his voice muted and his mind supposedly blocked by the skyfire bracelet, and Lin, who was still silently meditating.

"I don't think that I'll get much more useful information out of you for now, at least not willingly." the King mused. "Your disgusting thoughts are blocked out, and that MudWing's mind is completely blank, as usual."

Lin's neutral expression briefly twisted in anger, and King Darkstalker chuckled. "Oh, I'm sorry. _Earth_Wing."

He sighed, turning back to the two humans in the vent. "I believe we're done here. Goodbye, and good luck breaking the spell."

And with that, Reggie and Maple were whisked back to Winter's cave in less than a second, the lives of Hidden and Lin in their hands.

* * *

**AN:**

**So a lot happened in this chapter, and hopefully it didn't feel too rushed. I have two major concerns with this particular timeline, one being proper characterization. When it comes to consuming media, I'm a one and done type of person, so I actually haven't read most of the Wings of Fire books in a while. In fact, the most recent one was Dragonslayer back when it released. That makes me a little worried about properly portraying characters from the series, as while I could use the excuse that they are different versions of them from other timelines, or in this case that they are under a spell that makes them act weird, but that would seem kind of cheap. The other concern is that of Darkstalker himself. It's really difficult to write a villain who is so obnoxiously overpowered, and there are just so many ways that he could easily bring this story to an abrupt close. I'm trying my best to find the most satisfying way for our heroes to go up against him, and I think my idea might work. I'll elaborate more on it in the next chapter. That said, even if the road there has a few bumps, I have a really cool idea for a climax to this timeline. Stay tuned!**


	20. Chapter 20: The King's Bet

**Review Responses:**

**1 A: That...****_may_**** or may not be where I got the name from...**

**QueenGlorytheFirst: This story won't be going the full meta route used in stories like Alternate, aside from a few subtle meta jokes here and there. I wonder what your new username will be?  
Pt35: I'm glad you liked Clearsight's part, she was one of the characters I was really worried about portraying well.**

**Earthpatriot117: I'm glad you're liking the story! I'm glad to have more active readers of my story!**

* * *

**Chapter 20: The King's Bet**

* * *

**Jade Mountain Academy Student Caves**

**Early Morning**

"This blows…." Reggie moaned. "How are we supposed to know what he enchanted? It could be anything! A rock, a piece of jewelry, moons, for all we know he could have enchanted the mountain itself!"

Maple put a finger to her mouth, aggressively shushing Reggie. She pointed at the lightly snoring heap of white and blue scales that was Winter, still fast asleep on the rocky ledge with his snout buried in the scroll. Reggie nodded apologetically.

"We've got a day to figure this out, don't we?" Maple whispered.

"Yeah, just a day!" Reggie whispered back anxiously.

Maple paused, turning to the floor, deep in thought. "You mentioned a piece of jewelry, right?" she asked. Reggie nodded, starting to understand what she was getting at. He thought back to the various adornments worn by the NightWing King. There was the bracelet he'd tapped back when Reggie first met him, of course, as well as a gold chain necklace draped around his neck. He had a few rings around his claws too, as well as a silver band near the end of his tail.

"The crown, that's it!" Maple said, nearly shouting. She quickly paused, turning to Winter, but the IceWing remained fast asleep. "That crown on his head looked _really_ suspicious! That's gotta be it!" she continued in a whisper.

"I mean, I guess it makes sense." Reggie replied. A crown enchanted to allow the wearer to control other dragons seemed perfect. Almost _too _perfect, in fact. Was it just that obvious, or was it a red herring distracting them from the real vessel of the spell? King Darkstalker did seem like the kind of guy to do something like that.

Reggie scratched his head. There just _had _to be something he was missing, something his thick head was too clueless to grasp. Maple didn't seem entirely sure about her guess either, which didn't make things any better. "Why did it have to be _me_, I can't do this…." he muttered.

"Dude, chill." Maple whispered in draconic, albeit shakily. Reggie turned to her, a grin on his face. Maple smiled back. "If you're having trouble thinking of new ideas, then why not go out and...I don't know...watch the sunrise or something?" she continued in syllabic.

He sighed, staring up at the rocky ceiling. "Yeah, that sounds about right." Reggie said, "Maybe some fresh air _will _help clear up my head. You wanna come?"

"You go on ahead." Maple offered, "Someone's gotta stay behind in case the dragons wake up."

Reggie nodded, turning to leave. He waved at Maple as he left the sleeping cave and made his way back through the same tunnel he had walked earlier that night. The torches had all died, leaving the cavernous passageway shrouded in darkness. Reggie nearly tripped on a crag in the floor, having to navigate based on memory alone.

As he made his way out into the main cave, still as empty as before, the sun had already begun to rise. Orange beams of sunlight flew in through the gaping entrance way of the school, causing the gong set near the back of the cavern to shimmer in the early morning light.

Walking out onto the landing, Reggie looked around at the flat expanse of rocky terrain for a good place to sit. He spotted a large boulder on the far side of the plateau, next to a dense cluster of bushes and trees, and began making his way over to it. The plateau was large, probably large enough for the Salvation to touch down upon it. It took a few minutes of walking for Reggie to finally reach the boulder, sitting down against it as the sun crept up over the horizon.

It was a beautiful sight to behold, if only for the few seconds before Reggie had to shield his eyes so as to not go blind. He sighed, still at a loss for new ideas. "For all I know, this 'King Darkstalker' guy enchanted some random pebble, or a fish or something." Reggie muttered to himself, tossing a pebble off of the sheer cliffs in front of him.

"If I were him, I'd have enchanted something I knew I could never lose." a voice said from the dense foliage.

Reggie froze, whipping his head towards the cluster of branches. His heart raced, the voice sounding scarily similar to that of King Darkstalker, albeit less booming and intimidating and more brooding and aloof. He squinted, eyes adjusting to the darkened area.

He could just barely make out the outline of a NightWing, with what looked like thick cables draped across his body, but he couldn't make out who they were before they stepped further back into the overgrowth.

_That's the same NightWing as I saw before, isn't it?_ Reggie thought. He shook his head, getting his mind back on track.

"W-Who are you? And what the moons are you talkin' about?" Reggie asked, trying to suppress the fear in his voice.

The mysterious stranger sighed. "If you _still_ haven't figured it out, even after that, then you really have no hope of beating that mon...that king..."

"Who said anything about beating him? All I gotta do is answer his question and he'll let us go, right?" The stranger let out a brief chortle in response. Reggie groaned.

"Well, if you know what he enchanted, then spill!"

But all he was met with was the sound of rustling leaves as the NightWing left. Reggie darted into the overgrowth, pushing aside the many tangled branches as he tried to catch up to them. "Hey, wait up!" he called, but to no avail. He stepped out of the shrubs, back on the entrance plateau, the beaming face of Kinkajou greeting him.

**Kinkajou:** Oh, there you are Reggie! I've been looking all over for you! I tried asking Maple where you went, and she said some words in broken dragon that I didn't quite get.

_Kinkajou gasps._

**Kinkajou: **Have you been teaching her how to speak dragon?!

_(Laugh Track)_

Reggie groaned. The _last_ thing he wanted right then was to deal with the energetic RainWing. But he quickly realized that he didn't have much of a choice in the matter, as she scooped him up in one of her talons and carried him off into the caves.

"Hey, what...put me down!"

_Kinkajou darts back to her sleeping cave, giggling with glee._

**Kinkajou:** The science fair is _tonight!_ We _have_ to get ready!

Reggie sighed, watching the world rapidly swing by as he was carried off deeper into the school. He'd hoped to come out of that brief excursion with at least a _few _new ideas, but instead he'd wound up in the clutches of an annoying RainWing dragonet, left with a clue that only made him more confused.

Maybe the mysterious NightWing was right, what hope _did_ he have of beating the King of the World?

* * *

**Jade Mountain Academy Prey Center**

**Evening**

As the sun set once again on the twin peaks of Jade Mountain, dragons flocked into the academy's Prey Center, as it was called. It was a large cave, almost as big as the entrance hall, it's flat floor carpeted by a thin layer of grass that smelled of decaying animal carcasses. One side of the cavern was completely open to the air, a small ridge of rock running along the edge of the floor there to prevent any small creatures from escaping.

There was no prey in the Prey Center that night, though, save for the ones used in a couple of the Winglets' science projects. Instead, five small groups of dragonets were positioned around the edge of the area, each gathered around a rickety wooden table displaying their experiment.

Reggie was standing upon one of these tables, it's unstable, wobbly nature throwing him off balance. Maple stood beside him, seeming a bit less anxious about their current situation than he was.

The two had more or less agreed that the crown was the most likely vessel for King Darkstalker's brainwashing spell, and had decided to confront the NightWing King when he came by to judge the Jade Winglet's project.

Reggie looked over at the dragonets standing by their table. To their left was Kinkajou, Turtle, and a SkyWing named Peril. To their right stood Qibli and Winter, patiently waiting for the judges to arrive.

"Hey uh...Qibli?" Reggie asked. The SandWing turned to him, the look on his face similar to the one Lin gave him whenever he spoke to her. "Isn't there uh...supposed to be some kind of display...or something? This is a science fair after all." Reggie asked, noting the various propped up wooden boards detailing the experiment on the other Winglet's tables, and the lack thereof on theirs.

_Qibli smirks._

**Qibli:** We _would_ have a cool display if _someone_ hadn't insisted on waiting till the last minute to work on the thing.

_(Laugh Track)_

**Kinkajou:** Well it was _totally_ worth it! When the judges see our talking scavengers, they'll be sure to give us the win!

Reggie didn't like the way she called them _their _talking scavengers, but at this point he had completely given up on arguing the matter. They hopefully wouldn't be spending much longer in this timeline anyway, so long as they were able to beat the King's bet.

_Kinkajou lets out an excited squeal._

**Kinkajou: **Here they come!

_The teachers of Jade Mountain Academy enter the prey center, followed by King Darkstalker and Queen Clearsight._

_(Applause)_

_Huh, that's a new one._ Reggie thought.

_Kinkajou leans over to whisper to Reggie and Maple as the judges make their way to the first group._

**Kinkajou:** You guys remember your lines, right?

"Yeah...I guess…." Reggie said, though he wasn't talking about the speech he had spent the past day unwillingly rehearsing.

_Do I though? Maple seems fairly confident in the crown idea now, but…._

The anonymous clue still hung in the back of Reggie's mind, greatly diminishing his confidence in their choice. What if they were wrong? He doubted they'd get a second chance.

The NightWing King stepped over to their table, they were up next. _Now or never…._Reggie though anxiously. But before he could speak, he was interrupted by the RainWing.

**Kinkajou: **Uh, do you think you guys could hold off on judging us till the end, _pleeeeease?_ We're all ready to go and all, but our project is _really_ cool, and it would be _even cooler_ to close out the night with it!

King Darkstalker grinned, eyeing the two humans standing fearfully on the shaky table. "I am _very_ excited to see these talking scavengers of yours, who _knows_ what they have to say?" He stared at Reggie in particular as he said this, sending shivers down his spine.

"Well, I guess I do." King Darkstalker said, a fake expression of embarrassment on his face.

_(Laugh Track)_

"Very well, we must end this night on a high note, what good of a science fair would it be otherwise?" The NightWing King turned to leave, the other judges following silently behind him.

**Kinkajou: **_Yes! _I knew we were his favorite!

_(Laugh Track)_

Reggie let out a sigh of relief, for once he was actually glad the RainWing had butted in. Still, the look King Darkstalker had given him didn't seem promising, and there was still the issue of that clue.

_Something he could never lose? Wouldn't that be everything? He has magic for moons sake!_

"Hey, Maple?" Reggie asked, "Are you _sure _the crown is what he enchanted?"

Maple shrugged. "It's not like we have any better ideas. Besides, it just makes too much sense!"

_That's the worrying part._ Reggie thought, watching the King make his way through each of the other three groups. He was still in his smaller size, only slightly taller than his wife. His body was held in a regal posture as he examined each of the Winglets' displays.

_His body…._

"That's it!" Reggie said, nearly shouting, "Something he could never lose!"

Maple turned to him, a confused expression on her face. Reggie remembered that he hadn't told her about the clue yet, partly because he was afraid she wouldn't believe him, and partly because he had forgotten to altogether.

"It's his own body!" Reggie explained, "King Darkstalker enchanted _himself_ to be able to control other dragons! That's something he could never lose!"

"Okay, what's all this 'something he could never lose' stuff about?" Maple asked skeptically, hands on her hips.

**Kinkajou: **Aw! They're so _cute_ when they talk in their scavenger gibberish!

_(Laugh Track)_

"I'll...explain later. But you have to trust me, alright?" Reggie asked. An odd thing to ask for sure, considering _he _didn't fully trust himself.

"Hm, it does make sense…." Maple mused, tapping a finger on her chin. The two of them quickly quieted though, seeing the judges making their way over to their table once again.

"Those other experiments were pretty good." the King said, once again eyeing the two humans. "Though in all the futures I see, yours truly lives up to expectations."

_Kinkajou is overcome with glee, excitedly turning to the two scavengers._

**Kinkajou:** I'll uh, let our friends here do the talking. Take it away Reggie!

Reggie turned to Maple one last time. She smiled, giving him a nod of affirmation. That was all that he needed. He looked up at the NightWing King, his imposing form casting a shadow over the wooden table, and pushed aside all of the doubt that had built up in him up until that point.

This was it, there was no going back now.

"King Darkstalker!" Reggie shouted in the bravest tone he could muster, catching the dragons of the Jade Winglet off guard with his sudden deviation from their planned out script. "I...no...WE know what you've enchanted!"

All the other judges surrounding the King of the World balked back from Reggie in a mix of surprise, terror, and utter confusion. King Darkstalker simply smiled. With a snap of his claws, all of the dragons in the chamber instantly fell unconscious. Reggie felt the fear rising up in him once again, doing his best to shove it aside and retain his composure.

"I already know what you're going to say, though it would be nice to hear it from you." the King remarked.

Reggie swallowed, feeling a lump growing in his throat. "You uh...you enchanted yourself...didn't you?" he asked hesitantly. It was far from the heroic confrontation he'd hoped for.

King Darkstalker paused for a moment, chuckling. "Well, I'm impressed. You actually managed to figure it out." The NightWing King smiled, clapping his two foretalons together. In an instant, the Prey Center was gone, replaced by the wide plateau that sat outside the entrance to Jade Mountain Academy. The starry sky sprawled out overhead, the twin peaks of the mountain mere shadows against the vast blanket of darkness.

King Darkstalker lifted into the air, growing to the size he was when Reggie had first seen him. Reggie tried backing up, but quickly realized that they were standing at the edge of the plateau, a seemingly never ending precipice of crags and spires below.

"D-Did we do it?" Maple hesitantly asked, standing beside him next to the sheer cliff.

Reggie nodded. "Seems like it. Now we just have to hope that he keeps his end of the bargain."

Maple looked down at the precipice behind them, and then up at King Darkstalker. She didn't seem the least bit convinced that the King would, and admittedly Reggie felt the same.

Their attention was drawn to their left, though, as Hidden and Lin spontaneously appeared above the plateau, landing with a thud on the rocky terrain. The two looked around at their new surroundings in bewilderment, but when their eyes locked on to the NightWing King, their expressions swiftly changed into ones of anger, and fear.

"Now that everyone's here, I think it's time we settle this." King Darkstalker mused.

"We solved your riddle...er...question?" Reggie stated hesitantly, "Whatever, the point is, are you going to let us out of this horrible sitcom of yours, or what?" Reggie thought he saw Hidden chuckling, though no noise left the SandWing's mouth.

King Darkstalker grimaced. "While I'm not quite sure what this 'sitcom' you speak of is, I am a dragon of my word. You will be able to leave this world, but…."  
_Of course there's a but._ Reggie thought, groaning.

"I will be coming with you, naturally." King Darkstalker continued. "Thanks to me, this world has known nothing but peace for the past year, and from my castle at the center of Pyrrhia, I've made sure each and every tribe has prospered. Now just imagine how much good I could do If I spread this peace to other timelines, the whole multiverse even! Someone with my power could easily…."

"Hey, Reggie!" Maple whispered, tapping Reggie's shoulder. He turned to her, already having tuned out the King's ramblings.

"That's Hidden over there, right?" she asked, pointing at the muted SandWing. Reggie nodded. Maple turned to Hidden, eyeing his right foretalon. "What's that thing he's fidgeting with in his claws?"

Reggie squinted, and realized that there was a tiny mechanical device in Hidden's talon. He was rapidly pressing a button on it, in a mix of long and short presses. It took Reggie a moment to realize that it was Morse Code, though he couldn't understand it, and to his knowledge the only inter-timeline communicator they had was on the shuttle.

_Hold on, where did he get that thing anyway?_

"I-I'm not sure, but I think it's some kind of communicator, maybe?" Reggie guessed.

"And another question." Maple continued, ending that train of thought, "What was all that about 'something he couldn't lose'?"

Reggie scratched the back of his head. "Well uh, you see…." he began awkwardly, "While I was out watching the sunrise, this stranger came by and gave me a...well a clue."

Maple stared at him skeptically. "And who _was_ this stranger?"

Just then, a blinding bolt of pure white energy darted over the heads of the two humans, aimed straight for King Darkstalker. The NightWing King paused his monologue, effortlessly deflecting the bolt of energy with one of his talons. "So you're showing yourself now, eh?" King Darkstalker said dismissively.

Reggie, Maple, Hidden and Lin all turned back to see a NightWing gliding towards the circular nodes were attached to the sides of his body, connected by wires flowing with energy. The wires were also plugged into sockets on the back of each of his talons, as well as the back of his jaw.

He landed between the humans and dragons, briefly casting a glance towards Reggie before stepping forward to face the King. Reggie noticed that the teardrop scales by his eyes were much more of a dull grey compared to shining silver ones on King Darkstalker, though it was far from the strangest thing about this dragon.

Reggie pointed at the newcomer, grinning at Maple. "Uh, he did."

"Didn't I ask you to wait until tomorrow morning to come see me? You could at least have waited until I was done here." King Darkstalker asked condescendingly.

The other Darkstalker glared at his larger lookalike. "Your rambling was getting on my nerves, and besides, you have something of mine. I want it back."

"You mean that device you used to come here. I only took it because my talons were already full dealing with these individuals here." King Darkstalker explained, "Besides, I wanted you to come to me on your own, I do think _I_ would deserve that much respect."

"I am _nothing_ like you."

"Uh, Reggie, what are they talking about?" Reggie heard Maple ask. He shrugged, for once, he hadn't the slightest clue.

King Darkstalker grinned, quite amused with his smaller doppelganger. "You're right, you aren't _anything_ like me. You're just a powerless shadow of myself that has to rely on those strange devices to stand a chance in the world."

The smaller Darkstalker flinched back, rage building up inside of him. Reggie and Maple slowly made their way over to Hidden and Lin, keeping their distance from the unstable newcomer.

"You know, you really should get your talons on some skyfire." King Darkstalker chided.

The strange NightWing finally snapped, leaping into the air as the nodes across his body let loose a surge of energy. White electricity spasmed across his jet black scales as he prepared himself for attack.

"How's this for powerless!"

King Darkstalker yawned, and lightly swiped one of his foretalons to the side. The boulder Reggie had sat by earlier that morning lifted itself up off of the plateau, careening straight towards the energized NightWing and smashing into him with a resounding force. The smaller Darkstalker fell to the ground, unconscious, the energy once surging across his body diminishing as the nodes shut off.

"Now that _he's_ out of the way…." King Darkstalker sneered. He turned to the gathered group of humans and dragons. "I guess I should be putting you under my spell now, just to be sure you don't try to betray me. Any last words?"

Hidden immediately shot up, waving a talon in the air. King Darkstalker groaned.

"Speak."

"Ah...uh...phew...that was uh, that was _terrible!_" Hidden mused, visibly relieved to have his voice back.

"Well, out with it, I don't have all night!" the King growled.

Hidden smirked. "Oh, uh. I was just wondering if your magic would even work in other timelines, is all. I mean, it doesn't exist in mine!"

"What do you know about power, SandWing?" King Darkstalker hissed, "I have all the power in the world."

"And _we_ have a spaceship."

A massive portal suddenly ripped open behind them, and before King Darkstalker could react, the Salvation came crashing through, slamming into the giant NightWing and sending him flailing backwards. Another portal was immediately opened behind him, and the former King of the World was thrown straight into it.

Both portals closed, leaving the Salvation hovering above the rocky plateau, the glow from its bottom thrusters illuminating the mountainside in a bright blue light.

King Darkstalker was gone.

* * *

**AN:**

**Hopefully the ending wasn't too abrupt, I've been imagining this in my head for a while now, ever since I got to thinking about how Hidden's group would have taken down Darkstalker at the end of DoD. It probably would have been good to spent more time in the academy with the Jade Winglet, but I've been really worried about portraying them right and it wouldn't have moved the plot forward much more.**

**When I was trying to think of how they could outfox Darkstalker, I settled on the idea that he had become complacent from ruling the world for a year. He figured he was so powerful, nothing could beat him. I also came up with an interesting principle regarding foresight and the multiverse, which will be touched on in the next chapter.**

**You might have a few lingering questions about this world, but some of them may be answered in the next chapter as well, which is a wrap up of this little adventure. Stay tuned!**


	21. Chapter 21: The Surprise

**Review Responses:**

**Pt35 - Don't worry, it's not as dire as it may seem, not yet at least. You were spot on about the powers thing though.**

**UndefinedWhistlingObject - I'm gonna have to get used to the new name, is it a play on Unidentified Flying Object? I'm glad the pacing seems alright, and the laugh track was mainly a byproduct of Darkstalker's enchantment. Don't know how I'm gonna explain it since Darkstalker didn't even know what a sitcom was. And those questions are spoilers, though I will say that the answers are quite different from what you have theorized.**

**Earthpatriot117 - Some answers will come, but many more questions shall be posed.**

* * *

**Chapter 21: The Surprise**

* * *

**Outside Jade Mountain Academy**

**Midnight**

The Salvation carefully lowered itself onto the wide plateau, the vibrant glow from it's bottom thrusters diminishing as its landing gear extended onto the rocky earth. Reggie turned to Maple, who was staring up in awe at the titanic vessel above her.

"So, you believe me now?" Reggie asked. Maple silently nodded in affirmation, speechless.

"Right on time." Hidden exclaimed, once again tapping another coded message into the device.

"Hey, Hidden?" Reggie asked as Hidden was about to put the device into the pouch on his left foreleg. "What is that thing, and where'd you get it?"

Hidden looked at the device in his talons, which looked like a circuit board welded to a small antennae. "It's an inter-timeline communicator I made using parts from one of the shuttles. Only sends morse code, though." The SandWing chuckled. "Oh, and you might not want to use the furthest back shuttle on the left any time soon."

"I'm surprised he didn't bother to check your bags." Lin mused.

Hidden smirked. "If that egghead had even half as much common sense as us, we would have been totally screwed."

"I'm still confused as to why he couldn't see the Salvation coming to hit him in any of his 'visions'." Reggie commented.

"I actually have a theory on the matter. Well, more of a hypothesis really." Hidden began. "Back in the dungeons, when Darky was rambling on about how much of a surprise it was when we arrived here, I came to the conclusion that, perhaps, he couldn't predict when something was going to come from _another_ timeline."

"It makes sense." Lin surmised, "From what I've heard, foresight is able to predict possible futures one's own timeline could take, so interference from others could likely go unnoticed." She paused, looking back at where the giant NightWing had once been. "Though normally those powers are only supposed to give occasional visions. _Darkstalker_ is an exception."

"Wait, does your timeline have a Darkstalker?" Reggie asked. Lin turned to him, and for once she didn't give him a weird look.

"It did, but he was defeated a little while back. No one really knows what happened to him."

Their attention was grabbed by the lowering of the hangar's front ramp, Ricky and Xavier quickly dashing down the metal platform before it had even fully lowered.

"Hey, guys!" Ricky shouted as he darted over to the group. "You alright?"

Hidden grinned. "Yeah, we're good." he said. The two stopped in front of the group, looking around at the darkened mountainside around them.

"Uh, do you mind telling me what it was we just hit?" Xavier asked.

"Just an all powerful magical tyrant who had brainwashed the entire planet and planned on taking over the multiverse." Hidden casually stated, "But don't worry, you guys got him."

Ricky and Xavier starred at Hidden in silence, taking in what he had just said. Finally, Ricky let out a light chuckle. "Heh, things just keep getting crazier and crazier, don't they."

"Where'd you send him anyway?" Reggie asked.

Xavier shrugged. "I just plugged in one of the codes from the no-go list."

The group turned back towards the entrance to Jade Mountain Academy, where the students and teachers of the academy had started to gather, staring out in bewilderment at the newcomers and their massive spaceship. Reggie heard hushed murmurs running through the group, and noticed that many of them looked like they had just woken up on the wrong side of the bed.

Suddenly, Clearsight came darting out of the caverns, pushing her way through the gathering of dragons and running out onto the plateau. "Darkstalker, my king! Where are you?! What happened?!" she shouted in utter desperation.

Many of the dragons in the group looked at her with just as much confusion as the Salvation. "I-Isn't she supposed to be...dead?" Reggie heard Qibli say.

Winter suddenly emerged from the group, walking slowly over to the grieving NightWing Queen. Clearsight turned to him in confusion, and in one swift movement, Winter swiped the crown from her head, throwing it to the ground and smashing it beneath one of his icy blue talons.

For a moment, Clearsight stared at him in a silent shock, before her body began transforming into the shape of another NightWing, smaller and younger than the one before, with silver teardrop scales behind each of her eyes.

"M-Moon…?" Winter sputtered.

"Wha...Winter? What...what happened…." the NightWing said groggily, as if they had just woken up from a deep slumber.

The gathered dragons looked on in horror, and the dragonets from the Jade Winglet quickly gathered around the NightWing. The four dragons and two humans by the Salvation looked on, without a clue as to what was transpiring before them.

"Do...you know what all that's about?" Ricky asked. Hidden shook his head.

"We were trapped in a dungeon the whole time, ask Reggie."

Reggie shrugged. "I honestly wasn't paying much attention to the other dragons here, not with a terrifying king of nightmares looming over me the whole time." He watched as the teachers joined the Jade Winglet around the NightWing, tears of sadness and joy being shed. "We...should probably get out of here. This doesn't really seem like our business."

The group slowly turned to leave, but was stopped by one of the SeaWing faculty members.

"Hold on!" she shouted, marching up to the group, "You are not _leaving_ this mountain until you tell us what the _blazing moons_ is going on here!"

Before anyone else could come up with a decent response, Lin stepped forward, addressing the SeaWing. "You're Tsunami, of the Dragonets of Destiny?" Lin asked.

The SeaWing seemed almost embarrassed to be referred to as such, but she nodded in affirmation regardless.

Lin turned back to the group. "You all get back in the Salvation, and take that lightning dragon over there to the medical chamber while you're at it." Lin commanded, pointing to the unconscious form of the other Darkstalker lying on the ground. "I'll deal with this."

The group did as they were told, unwilling to argue with the EarthWing, and with some effort Hidden and Ricky had managed to lift up the limp body of the cybernetically enhanced NightWing. Reggie and Xavier followed them towards the Salvation, Maple following at a distance.

"Hey, who's this?" Xavier asked, noticing Maple trailing behind them. She stopped, nervously looking up at the RainWing.

"Oh, this is Maple." Reggie explained. "I met her a couple days ago, been teaching her how to speak draconic."

"Hi Maple, how's it going?" Xavier asked in perfect syllabic. Maple froze, mouth agape.

"H-He can _talk?!_ Like, in _our_ language?!"

"Of course, everyone from our timeline is bilingual." Xavier explained, walking over to her. The two of them paced off to the side, chatting. Reggie watched them for a brief moment, before darting off to catch up to Hidden and Ricky, who were already making their way up the Salvation's forward facing ramp.

"You know," Reggie began, walking alongside the SandWing, "I've gotta admit that I'm a bit jealous."

"Of what?" Hidden asked.

"It's just, you got the cool one liner at the end, ya know. Like they do in the movies! I couldn't even keep myself together when _I_ stood up to Darkstalker."

"Tell ya what." Hidden offered, "Ricky and I can go get the surprise I've been working on once we get this oaf to the med bay, right Ricky?"

Ricky nodded, and the two of them turned to head down one of the adjacent corridors to the hangar, Hidden waving a talon as they left. Reggie watched them disappear around a corner, and then made his way to one of the shuttles, leaning against its shiny silver hull as he waited for them to come back.

_It has been quite the adventure here though, hasn't it?_ he thought, _Guess I should be careful what I wish for going forward._

Reggie leaned against the shuttle, listening to the soft white noise of the hangar and the muffled sound of Lin speaking with the dragonets outside, and wondering what exactly Hidden's surprise was supposed to be, when the sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention. He turned, seeing Maple walking over to him, Xavier having joined Lin.

Maple leaned back against the shuttle next to him, marveling at the size of the hangar around her. The two stood in silence for a moment while Maple took in the Salvation, until Reggie finally spoke up.

"So, now that you've seen our little ship here, you wanna come with us? I'm sure the others would be fine with it." he offered.

"Little?" Maple asked, chuckling. "Honestly though, I was already planning on going with you, ever since we broke into that castle together, why wouldn't I?"

Reggie shrugged. "I don't know, you might not ever see your village again, and the people in it."

"Reggie, they burned my house down."

Reggie rubbed the back of his head, grinning awkwardly. "Oh...heh heh...right…."

"Besides, you still have to finish teaching me draconic!" Maple continued.

Reggie nodded, and the two of them turned to see Hidden and Ricky re-entering the hangar, dragging with them a rolling crate with a large flat object propped up on top of it. A white blanket was draped over the object, though Reggie could easily tell that it was some kind of screen.

"Hey, Xavier!" Hidden shouted, his voice echoing throughout the hangar, "Get your tail in here! We've got something to show ya!"

Reggie heard the sound of talonsteps making their way up the lowered bay door, and saw Xavier step into the hangar, an annoyed expression on his face.

"You know, we're kind of dealing with an entire planet of dragons who have just been released from some kind of magic brainwashing spell and who have no history of anything as advanced as electricity." he stated, "Basically, could this wait until _after_ we've figured things out here?"

"Trust me Xav, you're gonna love this!" Hidden said giddily. He swept the blanket aside, revealing the object beneath to indeed be a screen. Two small devices covered in exposed circuits sat next to it on the crate, and as Hidden picked one up Reggie noticed a familiar pattern of buttons and joysticks.

"No. _Way!_" he exclaimed excitedly, "You made a game console?!"  
"Nah, it's only the screen and controllers." Hidden exclaimed. "_But_, we can hook Xavier's laptop up to the screen and use the controllers to play games that way!"

Reggie had to admit he had been starving for some form of entertainment, preferably something from back home. As cool as it was to be on a timeline travelling spaceship, the initial wow factor had already passed.

Still, it seemed that the controllers were both far too big for human use. Hidden noticed as well, turning to Reggie. "I'll have a controller in your size soon enough Reggie, I wanted to get this ready before we set off so I could show it off when we were done here."

Xavier sighed. "I don't see how this is more pressing than the mob of confused dragonets outside." he commented, though Reggie could see hints of joy in his otherwise serious expression.

"_Come on!_ Where's that pro Kaizo runner I know?" Hidden asked, wrapping a wing around the RainWing.

Xavier shoved him off. "Yeah, yeah, It's cool, alright?" he said, "Though I have to ask, where _did_ you get the parts to build this? You didn't start taking apart the ship, did you?"

"What, no!" Hidden said, feigning offense, "Some of the storage lockers have a bunch of spare parts in them."

"That reminds me." Xavier started, turning to Reggie, "I found something over there I think you would be interested in." He turned to head toward one of the adjacent hallways, when Hidden stopped him.

"Hold on, could you maybe leave us your laptop, please?"

Xavier groaned. "It's in the bridge." he said. Hidden grinned, and turned to Ricky.

"Come on, I'm _dying_ to play some Buildaria." he said as the two darted out of the hangar towards the bridge.

Xavier sighed, turning to Reggie. "Come on, it's in one of the last storage lockers. Maple can come too, if she wants." he said in syllabic. The RainWing turned to leave, and Reggie cast a glance at Maple. She was still leaning against the shuttle from before, but she quickly got up to follow Xavier.

The two trailed behind the RainWing, passing shuttered locker after shuttered locker, each one at least ten times the height of the humans, and twenty times as wide.

"I managed to break through a few of the ship's security measures." Xavier explained as they walked, "Nothing much, but I got a few locked doors to open."

They stopped in front of the second to last locker on that side of the hallway, Xavier tapping a glass screen next to it. The wide door slowly slid upward, a bright white ceiling light in the chamber beyond illuminating it's contents.

Reggie and Maple let out a collective gasp, gazing up at the metallic claws and sweeping wings of steel before them. It took Reggie less than a second to realize what it was behind that door.

"Oh, oh yeah." he exclaimed, anticipation welling up inside of him, "This is gonna be awesome!"

* * *

**?**

Darkstalker tumbled helplessly through the spiraling blue vortex, still too shocked to comprehend what had just happened. A strange, tingling sensation ran throughout his body, and he noticed his scales were standing on end. His head ached as futures rapidly flashed in and out, before finally disappearing altogether.

He barely had enough time to collect his thoughts, when he was thrust out of the vortex, straight into the side of Jade Mountain. He slammed into the hard rock surface just above the academy's entrance, his body aching from the sudden impact.

_Ow...ow ow _ow_...ugh, after all this time, I must have forgotten the feeling of...pain._ Darkstalker thought, struggling to pick himself up from the side of the mountain. He didn't seem seriously injured, though he certainly felt so. _Wait, shouldn't my invincibility spell prevent this?_

He lifted into the air, taking in his surroundings. Jade Mountain seemed relatively the same, though there were two notable differences. For one, it was midday, and last he checked it had been mid_night_ when that golden..._thing_, had hit him. And secondly, his beautiful castle was gone. Vanished.

_Was I...sent back in time?_ he wondered, but he quickly remembered who he had been speaking to only moments before. _Wait, this must be one of those other timelines._

He looked down at the entrance plateau, the dragons and scavengers from before absent. Two dragons stood watching him from below, Darkstalker quickly recognizing them as Sunny and Clay. He spiraled down, landing in front of the two, his size still monstrously large compared to them.

"Ahem, I uh, I believe I've come from another timeline. This _is_ Jade Mountain Academy, yes?" he asked. The two stared at him blankly, slight curiosity on their faces. "Oh, right." Darkstalker said, waving a talon in a circular motion in front of the two to put them under his spell. "Now would you please tell me where exactly I am?"

Still no response. The two continued staring at him, a slight smile growing on Sunny's face. There was something off about these two, something Darkstalker couldn't quite pin down.

"Look Clay, another _Darkstalker!_ Now we have two!" Sunny jubilantly exclaimed, catching Darkstalker off guard. She immediately leapt forward, latching on to Darkstalker's right foreleg. "I'm gonna name you Darkie the Second!"

"What the _moons_ is wrong with you? Get off of me!" Darkstalker commanded, but the SandWing wouldn't listen, only clinging tighter. Clearly, his spell wasn't working. He reached his other foretalon between the Sunny's golden scales and his jet black ones, struggling to pry the clingy dragonet off of his leg. Eventually, she let go, scrambling to the top of a nearby boulder, a playful expression on her face.

"Hey, uh, you don't have any food on you, do you?" he heard Clay ask. Darkstalker cast him a confused glance, and picked up a pebble from the ground.

_I enchant this pebble to turn into an apple._ he thought, but nothing happened. He hurled the pebble over the nearby cliffs in frustration. "No, I do not." he growled.

Clay sighed, and walked over to a small patch of grass growing between the rocks. He began ripping clumps of the greenery from the ground, stuffing them into his maw with a satisfied look on his face. Darkstalker looked on in confusion and disgust. Here he was stuck with these two ridiculous incarnations of dragons he (kind of) knew, and none of his spells seemed to be working.

To make matters worse, he couldn't see any futures either, and the minds of the dragonets were completely barred to him as well. _Maybe they just don't have minds at all._ he thought irritably, though he had a sinking feeling that it was to the contrary.

He silently began walking away from the two strange dragonets, hoping to find someone with even a lick of sense, when another familiar voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tsunami asked. Darkstalker turned to see the SeaWing standing right behind him, a commanding expression on her face despite her comically small size compared to him. "You haven't even had a tour of the school yet."

Darkstalker sneered. "Like I would ever want to tour _this _school, what with how ridiculous its teachers are acting."

Tsunami's expression changed to one of fury in a matter of seconds. She lifted into the air, up to the height of Darkstalker's face, glaring menacingly at the NightWing.

"You DARE diss our school?!" she shouted, "As principal of this academy, I decree that you're going straight to detention, right after I smash your face in with my PRINCIPAL POWERS!"

Tsunami lifted her talons into the air, a bright blue light emanating from their palms. A similar light began to envelope some of the surrounding boulders, including the one Sunny was perched upon. The SandWing leapt to the ground as the boulders began to levitate into the air, circling menacingly around Darkstalker.

Darkstalker braced himself for the ensuing impact, when suddenly another SeaWing, Riptide, if he remembered correctly, flew in from behind him and landed next to the angered principal. The two lovingly embraced, causing the boulders to come crashing to the ground.

"Oh Tsunami, you are the one and only true love I will ever have!" Riptide melodramatically said.

"I could say the same for you, my love!" Tsunami replied.

Darkstalker felt ready to hurl. He slowly began backing away once again, keeping a close eye on all four of the dragons, when a fiery projectile whizzed right past his head. The projectile flew straight into Riptide, instantly vaporizing the SeaWing in a blazing explosion.

Remarkably, Tsunami came out of it unscathed.

Darkstalker turned and saw Queen Glory landing on the plateau just behind him, a long cylindrical device in her talons. The RainWing queen paid him no attention, instead staring angrily at Tsunami.

"Your romance was making me sick!" she shouted, "Everyone knows Glorybringer is the best couple around!"

"YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT RAIN FACE!" Tsunami shouted. She began once again levitating boulders, this time hurling them at the RainWing in a blind rage. Glory quickly fired more of the flaming projectiles out of the device, destroying the boulders as they came flying her way.

Darkstalker stood, watching the chaos unfold before him. He spun around, hoping to find some route of escape, but everywhere he looked there was another bizarre sight to behold.

Sunny sat licking her claws with content, her stomach bulging to a ridiculous size. Darkstalker realized with a sickening feeling that she had just swallowed Clay whole.

Behind him, Winter, Qibli and Turtle stood playing loud, annoying music on odd looking instruments, the sound blaring out of two large black boxes.

"_We will, we will, rock you!_"

Darkstalker looked up, and saw a wooden vessel nearly the size of him floating above him, as if it were sailing on an invisible sea. A scavenger in scrappy clothing stood atop it, asking where the rum's gone.

_What is happening._ he thought, for once feeling genuinely afraid. _Why is this happening to me? I brought peace to the world! I brought justice to the IceWings!_

Suddenly, Darkstalker felt the ground beneath his talons give way. He looked down to see yet another swirling portal beneath him, this one much smaller than the one he had previously been thrown through. He fell, just as another fiery projectile was about to hit him in the head, leaving the world of chaos behind.

He was spiraling out of control once again, just like he had been before. This time though, his scales weren't standing on end, though he couldn't say it made what was happening to him any more comprehensible.

Was this all a dream? Was he being punished? Nothing made sense anymore.

The vortex once again ripped away, this time depositing him into a large, dark chamber, its walls and ceiling shrouded in a seemingly endless void.

Darkstalker hit the ground hard, groaning as he picked himself up. He tapped the smooth, metal floor with a claw, a soft clinic echoing throughout the darkness. A chill blew past his scales, causing Darkstalker to shiver.

He _loathed_ the cold.

"H-Hello?" he asked, his voice quickly diminishing into the darkness. He noticed the hesitation in his voice, and quickly straightened himself up, trying his best to look as intimidating as he could.

"You seem quite shaken, Darkstalker. Though I can't say I blame you, after suffering such a humiliating loss." a voice called out from the shadows. Darkstalker spun about frantically, unable to find the source of the voice.

"Who are you?" he asked in a commanding tone, "Show yourself!"

The voice chuckled. "Do you really think you're in the position to be making such demands?" it asked.

"I am the most powerful dragon in the world!" Darkstalker growled.

"In _your _world, perhaps." the voice continued, "But not in this one, and _certainly _not in that last one."

"How do you know all this?" Darkstalker asked, quelling the anxiety that was slowly starting to eat its way through him.

"I have eyes that even you are blind to." the voice explained, "Though how I know of your plight is not of importance at the moment. What _is_, is what we are going to do about it."

"We?" Darkstalker asked, "And what makes you think I need your help?"

The voice sighed. "You really haven't caught on yet?" it asked in a condescending tone, "In a sizable chunk of the known multiverse, your powers are completely useless."

Darkstalker paused, remembering the chaotic world he had just been saved from. Even here, his invincibility enchantment hadn't protected him from the fall, nor could he see a single possible thread this conversation could take.

"Magic is...inconsistent, in the grand scheme of the multiverse. Animus magic in particular." the voice continued, "And while there's not much I can do to help with timelines without magic altogether, there is a way that I could...reduce...the inconsistent nature of your powers in other timelines with similar magic."

"What is it?" Darkstalker asked, now growing genuinely intrigued.

"You'll find out soon enough, so long as you agree to aid me in my endeavors, be my...partner...in a sense. You do want to spread peace across the multiverse, don't you?"

Darkstalker paused, taking a step back. He didn't like the idea of this "partnership", the thought of taking orders from another dragon, or whatever this individual was, was far from ideal. _Why am I even humoring him, I'm King Darkstalker for moon's sake!_

"Of course, if you're not interested, then I can send you back to the timeline I found you in."

"NO! Anything but that!" Darkstalker pleaded. He didn't even care how that sounded, the thought of returning to that wretched place was enough to make him agree to anything. "Very well." he said, "I'll be your _partner_, got it."

The voice chuckled once again. "A wise decision." it said. Suddenly, a soft light shone into the chamber as a large metal door slid open. "Now for me to keep up my end of the bargain."

Darkstalker took a step towards the door, and stopped. "Just, one more thing." he asked, "Who are you?"

There was a pause, and Darkstalker wondered if the voice would even respond, when it finally spoke up.

"You can call me, H."

* * *

**AN:**

**This chapter is kind of a midway point, except it's not really at the exact halfway point of the story. I might have got a bit meta, but that's about as far as it will go. Shout outs to Xtremesilly1563 for the inspiration behind the "chaos" timeline (I've got to come up with a better name for timelines like that). The seeds for the overarching plot are starting to be planted, though it will be a bit before they sprout.**

**Next week will hopefully bring the new cover page, stay tuned!**


	22. Chapter 22: Singles

**Review Responses:**

**Pt35 - I did wonder if the Sunny bit was a bit much, though there is a reason that timeline's on the no go list. Also, are you insinuating that ****_I_**** am H? Because...I honestly did not expect that.**

**UnidentifiedWhistlingObject - I do think it would have been neat to explore how the dragonets recoil from Darkstalker's curse, but it wouldn't relate too much to the main plot and would probably be better suited for a spin off. Just another thing for the back log.**

**I have heard of the Hurd, and glanced at a few of their fics, but I honestly know too little to tie that in. I can promise you that the endgame of this story will be very original, to the point where I've wondered if it would be almost too much so, but to say more would be to spoil the surprise. :)**

**Earthpatriot117 - No, the ship doesn't have any entertainment on board, and I do have an explanation that ****_might _****explain why. Honestly, I just like the idea of it being a sort of "blank slate" for the team to modify and personalize as the story progresses.**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER:**

**The Singles rule set is an original creation of DonHp, although any and all dragon tribe naming conventions belong to author Tui T. Sutherland. Please do not reproduce the rules in another location, nor claim to be the creator of said rules. If you wish to share Singles with others, then please direct them to this story (or a possible spin of story detailing the full rule set). Thank you!**

* * *

**Chapter 22: Singles**

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**The Salvation Hangar Bay**

**Early Morning**

Lin slowly walked up the Salvation's forward facing hangar bay, yawning as she entered the massive chamber. She'd just spent the last half an hour or so attempting to explain to the dragonets of Jade Mountain Academy what was going on, though even she didn't completely understand it. Perhaps she could have asked that SandWing, Hidden, or that scavenger, or _human_ as they called him, Reggie.

_Then again, knowing them..._she thought, seeing Hidden and his SkyWing brother Ricky laying next to each other on the floor of the hangar. The two of them were fidgeting with odd gadgets, staring at a large upright tablet displaying moving images on its surface. She couldn't quite make out what it was they were looking at, it looked to be two separate images, one on top of the other, each depicting a dragon's perspective in an odd blocky world.

_You see something new every day here, don't you Lin? _she thought, shaking her head. Just as she was about to head off to her room to get some rest, Hidden waved for her to come over. She groaned, walking up behind the two.

"Is this that surprise you were jabbering on about?" she asked.

Hidden nodded. "Yeah, we can play video games now! Cool huh?"

Lin looked between the device in Hidden's talons and the moving pictures ahead of her. She would have been much more amazed by the technology on display in front of her, had she not spent more than a week in what these dragons called a "spaceship".

"And...that would be…?" she asked.

"Well uh, their games...and they're played on a _screen_." Hidden explained, pointing at the large flat tablet, "Using a _controller_ like this." He held up the device in his talons, smiling at Lin. "It's a bit hard to explain to someone who's never used similar tech before, you wanna try?"

Lin scoffed. She'd just gotten done dealing with a horde of confused dragonets, and wasn't quite in the mood for playing games, or whatever it was these dragons were doing. Plus, she wasn't too fond of the way Hidden had explained the devices to her like she was a one year old.

"You two knock yourselves out, I'm heading up to my room to cool off." she explained as she turned to leave, but Hidden persisted.

"_Come on!_ Have some fun!" he insisted, "I'm sure _this _can help you cool off!"

"You could use my controller." Ricky offered, holding his device out to Lin. she paused, considering her options, and eventually caved in. She knew the SandWing wouldn't stop bugging her about it until she gave it a shot.

"So, what are we doing here?" she asked, taking the "controller" from Ricky and laying down next to Hidden on the cold metal floor.

"So uh, you're using the bottom half of the screen. It's showing what you're looking at right now." Hidden explained, pointing at the "screen", as he called it. Lin looked at her half of it, which showed a view of the inside of a red structure made of brick. Or, what looked like brick, considering how blocky everything was. The floor was green, possibly grass, and the roof looked to be made of brownish planks. A row of small icons sat at the bottom of the screen.

"What...what is this? What am I looking at?" she asked, "And what's that at the bottom there?"

"That's just your inventory, don't worry about that right now." Hidden explained. "You're currently in Ricky's house, I can show you how to get out of there." He reached over to her controller, and Lin pulled it away.

"Hey! What are you…."

"I'm just trying to show you how to play the game!" Hidden said. "The stick on the left moves your character, and the one on the right moves the camera."

"Sticks? I don't see any sticks? And what's a 'camera'?"

"It's your view of the game world, and the sticks are the...the nubby things."

Lin began moving the "sticks" around, and saw her view of the house on the screen start to move too. Of course, it didn't move in the way she wanted it to, and she wound up staring down at the "grass" floor while walking into one of the walls.

"Why won't it look up?" she asked irritably. She heard Hidden sigh, which only made her more frustrated.

"You've got to press up on the right stick...here!" Hidden explained, reaching over to point at the nub on the right side of the controller. Lin did as he said, but she wound up just staring straight up at the roof.

"Great, now what?" she asked.

"Hey, Hidden? Maybe I should explain it to her." Ricky offered, but Lin had already had enough of the game. She furiously mashed the various buttons and knobs on the controller, her view of the house flailing around wildly as a bunch of weird images popped up on screen.

"Gah! This _stupid_ thing won't work! It doesn't make any sense!" she growled, her frustration getting the better of her. She felt ready to smash the controller upon the hanger floor, when Xavier stepped in from one of the adjacent hallways.

"Maybe you should try playing an easier game than that." the RainWing said to Hidden, "What made you think Lin would want to play Buildaria anyway?"

Hidden scratched the ruff on the back of his neck. "Yeah...guess I was a bit excited to have this available, you know?"

"Do all the games in your world make such little sense?" Lin asked, giving the controller back to Ricky.

"I've got Singles in my duffel!" Ricky suggested.

"Dude, you've got _everything _in that duffel." Hidden said, smirking.

Lin looked between the two. "What's 'Singles'? It's not another one of those…'vijimo games'...is it?" she asked. She didn't quite know why she hadn't just stormed off to her room yet. Was it curiosity, or something else?

Hidden, Ricky and Xavier all tried stifling their laughter after that comment, though a quick glare was enough to end it. "Don't worry, it's a card game. You should get it just fine." Hidden said. He nodded to Ricky, and the SkyWing darted off to retrieve the game.

"That's what you said about that last game." Lin stated.

"You have card games in your own timeline, right?" Xavier asked. Lin nodded. "Then you should be fine." he said. "By the way, is everything taken care of out there?"

Lin nodded once again. "The dragonets seem more concerned sorting out some of their own problems for now. They shouldn't bother us for a bit, depending on how curious the students get. I told them we'd be leaving shortly anyway."

"Great, 'cause this whole place is probably going crazy right now and we're at the epicenter of it." Hidden exclaimed, "Though there _should _be enough time for a quick game of Singles."

Lin frowned. "If that's the case, then shouldn't we be leaving now? Is there really time for games?"

"Well, at the moment there isn't anything trying to kill us, and who knows when we'll have another timeline like that last one? We might as well enjoy this brief moment of respite while we can, 'cause it may be awhile before we get another." Hidden explained.

Xavier nodded in agreement, and the trio turned to see Ricky reentering the hangar, a small box tucked beneath one of his forelegs.

"Is Reggie gonna play too?" he asked, setting the box on the ground and opening it up. Inside were ten stacks of cards, each bearing a stylized depiction of a dragon of a specific tribe. Lin recognized seven of them, but the other three were a complete mystery to her.

"Reggie's off giving his friend Maple a tour, it looks like she'll be joining us from here on out." Xavier explained.

"Oh, that's cool! The more the merrier, right?" Ricky asked. Lin wasn't so sure if she agreed.

"How many can play this game anyway?" she asked out of curiosity.

"Ten." Hidden stated, "Though that's only if you're a complete _lunatic_."

Ricky laid out each of the ten stacks of cards, their glossy surfaces reflecting the bright white lights hung high above.

"Alright, so each of us needs to pick a tribe to put in the main deck. That's what the different species of dragons are called in this game." Hidden explained. Lin sighed, there were far too many questions about these three's timeline that she didn't care to ask.

Ricky and Xavier both picked up the cards corresponding to their own species, though strangely, Hidden chose a stack depicting creatures that looked to be half dragon, half hornet.

"Going HiveWings this time?" Xavier asked.

"Yeah, I went SilkWings last time, didn't I?"

Lin picked up the MudWing stack, staring at the regal dragons on each glossy card. There seemed to be five different types of cards in the set, with three copies of each.

"Something the matter?" Ricky asked, seeing Lin staring indecisively at the cards in her talons.

"Where I'm from, it's considered an insult to be called a MudWing." she said with a grimace, "Yet everywhere else seems to call my tribe by that name."

"Well, you'll always be Lin the EarthWing to us!" Ricky replied with a friendly smile.

"Yeah, sure." Lin grumbled, and she put the MudWing stack into the deck. Hidden snatched up the thick stack of cards, furiously shuffling it as Ricky put away the remaining unused stacks.

"So, the youngest goes first…." Hidden began, setting the deck on the hangar floor as the four dragons sat in a circle around it, "Ricky, Xavier and I are all seventeen, and you're what, fifteen?"

"Sixteen." Lin corrected.

"Right, so that means you'll go first, and play will continue in a counterclockwise direction." Hidden continued.

"That's this way." Xavier explained after noticing Lin's confusion at the statement, swirling a claw in a circle.

"Alright then, I should probably explain the basic rules to Lin before we begin." Hidden stated. Lin groaned, she was already tired after dealing with those dragonets, and now she had to put up with this.

"So, in order to win at a game of Singles, you have to get a full set of cards, a set being five cards of the same tribe and each being of one of the five different classes: Queen, King, Princess, Prince, and Soldier." Hidden explained as Ricky passed out three cards to each player, "The moment you get a full set, you can shout 'Singles!', and you win the game. Now, on your turn you have the choice to either draw a card or play a card, and each class has its own unique effect. The Queen can..."

"Okay, can we just _play_ the game." Lin said, interrupting Hidden's explanation. "I'll figure it out as we go. You said I was first, right?" Hidden nodded, and Lin drew a card. It was a SkyWing Soldier, and she already had a SkyWing Prince and Princess, along with a MudWIng Princess.

_I might actually have a shot at winning this. _she thought, smiling to herself.

"Guess I'm next." Ricky said, drawing a card. Xavier followed suit, but Hidden, instead of drawing a card, set one down face up next to the deck.

"I play a RainWing Prince, which lets me draw two cards." he explained. "Your turn Lin."

Lin paused, thinking about her next move. "You know, I've been thinking about how in seemingly every other timeline we visit, EarthWings are called MudWings. Couldn't the same be said about your human friend being called a scavenger?" she asked as she drew a SkyWing Prince.

_A duplicate, that doesn't help._

The other three tensed up briefly, turning to each other as if they didn't really know what to say. "It's just, in our timeline," Ricky began, "a human can call another human..._that_...but a dragon?" He paused, looking through his hand. "It's...complicated."

He set down a MudWing Queen, Hidden leaning over to explain the card to Lin. "Queens reverse the turn order...so...it's your turn again."

Lin cast him an annoyed glance, and turned back to the group. "I can handle complicated, I've spent the past week with you guys after all." she said. Looking at her cards, she saw that she had a duplicate SkyWing Prince, and a MudWing Princess, both of which she didn't need. She at first considered playing the Prince to get rid of it, but decided to go for the Princess instead, keeping the Prince as a backup.

"That lets you draw the top card from the discard pile." Hidden explained, "So, you get the MudWing Queen Ricky just played."

_Great, that _really _doesn't help._

Hidden sighed. "Anyway, that word was used in some pretty nasty ways during the Great War, and long before even that." he explained, drawing another card.

"Great war?" Lin asked, remembering the DustWing War of Succession of her own timeline. She quickly shook those thoughts away, she didn't need to think about that now.

"It was this, _massive_ war between dragons and humans, happened about eighty or so years ago, fueled by tensions that had existed between the two for millennia." Xavier explained, setting down a MudWing Soldier in the discard pile. "I think I'll choose you, Hidden."

Hidden groaned, and held up his cards as Xavier randomly chose one and placed it in the discard pile, a HiveWing Prince.

"Does that mean you draw two cards?" Lin asked.

Hidden shook his head. "The soldier lets you discard an opponent's card without activating its effect." he explained, "Thanks for that by the way." Xavier chuckled, as Ricky drew another card.

"You know, there's a reason they called it the 'Great War'." Ricky said wearily. "Had it continued, it would have likely ended with both sides being...eradicated."

"_Both_ sides? Wouldn't the dragons have easily won?" Lin asked, drawing a SkyWing King. Just one more card and she'd win this thing.

"Not when technology is in play." Hidden began, "While the dragons certainly had many physical advantages over the humans, the humans were always one step ahead in the tech department." He threw down a RainWing King, turning to Xavier with a mischievous grin.

"Consider this your penance for having the _audacity_ to play a Soldier against me!" Hidden said in a mock regal accent as he randomly chose a card from Xavier's talons and added it to his own.

"Oh, the _horror_. Whatever shall I do?" Xavier sarcastically said in response, the two sat chucking for a bit, but their smiles quickly vanished as they returned to the topic of their discussion.

"The humans eventually figured out how to build nuclear bombs, weapons that could destroy entire cities in the blink of an eye and leave the area uninhabitable for years." Xavier explained. Lin felt a sudden chill running up her spine. If their timeline had weapons _that_ devastating, then who knew what kinds of weapons existed out there, in far more advanced ones.

"The humans used their newfound weapons of mass destruction to wipe out two dragons settlements on Pantala, on a day that would forever be known as the Scorching." Xavier continued, playing a HiveWing Queen. "Back to you Hidden."

Hidden drew a card, smirking. "Well, the dragons invented their own nukes, and eventually everyone was all: 'Oh moons! If we keep this up, we'll _all_ be dead!'. So the dragon and human leaders came together and signed an armistice, ending the Great War."

Lin thought for a moment, dwelling on this 'Great War' as they called it. The thought of a war spiraling so far out of control that it threatened to destroy all of civilization was exactly what she had been fighting against in her youth. It was why she….

_There you go again. The past is in the past, quit dwelling on it and focus on the game._

"Of course, that wasn't the end of the tensions between humans and dragons, far from it." Hidden continued, "It was a bumpy road, but things are a lot better now in our timeline...mostly. Your turn Lin, by the way."

"Tell me it's my turn _one more time_, and I _will_ wring your tail around your neck." Lin growled. Hidden leaned back, talons held in the air apologetically.

Lin sighed. "Your timeline's history is interesting, though." she said, "In my world, the Scorching happened thousands of years ago, and was the day dragons overthrew the sca...er...the humans, and took the world for themselves." She drew another card, a RainWing Princess. "Though, nobody really knows exactly _what_ happened that day."

"You don't think?" Hidden asked, turning to Xavier. The RainWing shook his head.

"Nah, I doubt it. Though, based on what I heard from Maple, it seems that this timeline might have a similar Scorching as well. Maybe that's another norm between most timelines, like our species naming conventions." he replied.

"Oh, by the way, the maximum number of cards you can have is seven." Hidden said, gesturing to Lin's seven cards.

"Thanks." Lin grunted.

"Maybe we should change the subject." Ricky suggested, drawing another card, "Perhaps to something a bit less...depressing." He looked at his card, and suddenly donned an excited grin.

"_No!_" Hidden said, and Ricky nodded.

"Singles!" he shouted, slamming his cards down on the metal floor of the hangar. Sure enough, all five of his cards were HiveWings, and all were of different classes.

"Impressive." Xavier said, eyeing Ricky's perfect set of five cards.

"Did I shuffle the deck enough?" Hidden asked, tossing his cards face up on the floor. He wasn't even close to achieving a Singles, with the most cards of the same tribe being two RainWings. "That was over way faster than I anticipated. At least we got through all of the rules...I think."

Lin tossed her cards down as well, she had been so close to victory. She turned to Ricky, who was looking down at her cards. "Wow, you came close, didn't you?" he said, holding a talon out to her. "Good game."

Lin shook the SkyWing's talon and turned to leave, when the loud sound of clanking metal stopped her in her tracks. The four dragons turned to face the left archway leading to the neighboring halls, tensing up as the sound grew nearer.

Out of the archway stepped a clawed talon of steel, then another. Slowly, and admittedly quite clumsily, a dragon made of shining metal stepped into the hangar, struggling to stand on its hind legs. Lin readied herself for a fight, and a glance to her side saw Hidden doing the same.

"Don't worry guys, it's just me!" a familiar sounding voice called from the metal dragon. While it was somewhat distorted, Lin could easily tell that it belonged to that human from the trio's timeline.

"Reggie?" Hidden asked, squinting at the machine. Xavier sighed.

"Yeah dudes! Check it out!" he said exuberantly, supposedly from inside the machine. "This...is the Reggie-tron 9000!"

This time it was Hidden who let out an exasperated sigh. The "Reggie-tron 9000" attempted to take another step towards the group, but slipped and fell flat on it's metal stomach. Lin could hear groaning from inside the machine as it slowly got itself up onto all fours, kneeling down as its chest opened up to reveal a tiny seat with a familiar brown haired human sitting in it.

Maple came darting into the hangar shortly after, giving Reggie an embarrassed grin as he hopped out of the seat.

"So, what do you think?" he asked.

"Where did you _get_ that thing Reggie?" Hidden asked, noticeable excitement in his eyes.

"It was in one of the storage lockers I unlocked while you were away." Xavier explained, "And Reggie, shouldn't you have waited until you were outside to try that thing out?"

"I had to get it out of there somehow." Reggie said.

"Yeah, and bust up the ship in the process."

_Alright, I think this is about as much weird as I can handle for a single day._ Lin thought, walking towards the left archway. She cast the mech a cursory glance as she passed, turning back to face the group as she stepped into the neighboring hallway.

"I'm heading up to my room to get some sleep, wake me up when it's time to leave this place." she grumbled. She turned, walking down the long hallways of the Salvation, the story of the Great War still lingering at the back of her mind.

* * *

**AN:**

**Yes, I did just create an original card game for the sole purpose of world building.**

**Sorry for the disclaimer at the top, but I want to play it safe with this. Later down the line there's a chance I could turn this into an official game, even if it means stripping away the Wings of Fire theme, so I want to be careful with how I handle it. Feel free to make your own cards to play, the ones I used to test the game were nothing more than slips of paper with he tribe name, class, and effect name written on them.**

**A couple things to mention in regards to the rules that weren't touched on completely in the chapter:**

**\- You can still say Singles even if you have extra cards, i.e. you have five SkyWings of different classes as well as a MudWing and a SeaWing.**

**\- The King's effect is stealing a random card from an opponent (if it wasn't clear enough in the story)**

**Sorry for the short game in the chapter. I can post another story that contains the rule set for this game, if you think that would be a good idea.**

**As for the "Great War" discussed here, it stems from the idea that Hidden's timeline is a Pyrrhia that mirrors our world, including its history. The Great War is a combination of WW1 and WW2, with elements of the Cold War and even the American Civil war thrown in. It even takes place around the same time as WW2. WW1 was also originally called the Great War, which is where the name comes from.**

**Credit goes to my sister for the new cover page, I hope you like it!**


	23. Chapter 23: War

**Review Responses:**

**Pt35 - That sounds like an interesting game, I've only played poker a couple times with my dad's poker set, and never for real money. The idea behind Singles actually started from UNO, surprisingly, and I just kept adding and changing rules from there.**

**Earthpatriot117 - I had already planned to have the next few chapters from Lin's perspective be with her, Hidden and Ricky, but perhaps in Maple's chapters I can have Lin tag along with her and Reggie for most of it.**

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**Chapter 23: War**

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**Somewhere in the Multiverse**

**Shuttle 3**

The shuttle cruised through the swirling blue vortex, just as it had two days prior. Lin sat in the shuttle's main chamber, Hidden sitting across from her. The SkyWing, Ricky, was at the helm this time, silently watching the path ahead.

The other three had stayed behind with the Salvation, after Xavier had moved it to a small offshore island to keep out any unwanted visitors. Of course, they each had their own reasons for staying. The two humans wanted to continue experimenting with the "Reggie-tron 9000", and Xavier had wanted to, as he put it, "crack the rest of the Salvation's systems wide open".

"You know, it's funny." Hidden commented, chuckling, "I'm almost kinda jealous of Reggie and Maple, I mean, _I_ want a cool mech like that!"

Lin grunted in response, turning to face the tiny rear window of the Shuttle. She watched the vortex pass them by, it's swirling almost mesmerizing. She took a deep breath, clearing her mind of the worries that had been stirred up by the game the day before.

_Don't worry Lin, the next timeline will probably be peaceful, nothing like that last one. And who knows, maybe it will be the home of these dragons? Then you can...you can…._

"Hey, we're almost there!" Ricky said from the cockpit. Both Hidden and Lin got up simultaneously, Hidden taking the seat next to Ricky and Lin squeezing in between the two. The three remained dead silent as the vortex ripped away, revealing a barren, rocky wasteland stretching out as far as the eye could see.

The three moons hung overhead, and Lin got the feeling that it would be morning soon. All the better, as the terrain was difficult to make out in the darkness. Still, there didn't seem to be any plant life, and as they flew past jutting crags and barren plateaus, the trio saw massive lines scorched into the earth, the rock having been melted down into magma before solidifying into obsidian that sparkled in the moonlight.

"What the...where are we Ricky?" Hidden asked.

Ricky shrugged. "It says we're somewhere in Pantala, though I don't remember it looking anything like this."

Lin felt a sudden chill run down her spine. Terrain like this didn't just happen, someone, or some_thing_, had to have made it. She looked to her right, and gasped. There, gathered like a swarm of angry hornets, was a group, no, an _army_ of spaceships. They looked rather different from the Salvation, with much more angular hulls plated in silver. Long tubes could be seen jutting off of some of the ships, and while Lin wasn't sure what they were for, she couldn't help but feel that it wasn't anything good.

_There's no doubt about it._ Lin thought, _Those aren't just any ships, they're _war_ships._

The other two had noticed the gathered warships as well, and were silently staring at them in fear and confusion.

"H-Hidden?" Ricky asked, "Is...is that like, some kind of futuristic army?" Hidden silently nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, the sound of portals being ripped open, a sound all too familiar from when the Salvation had come to their rescue the day before, caught the three's attention. They turned to their left, just in time to see another army of warships emerging from portals just like the one they had just flown through. The ships seemed very similar to the ones to their right, but with various vivid stripes of red, black and white painted across them.

The two armies slowly converged, swarms of dragons armed to the teeth with glistening armor and weaponry surging from them, as the shuttle continued on its path directly between the growing tides of conflict.

"Ricky." Lin said, fear eating its way through her as her worst nightmares were realized before her very eyes. "Get us out of here."

Ricky fumbled with some of the controls, but no portal opened before the three. "I...I don't know what's wrong. It's not working!" he said, tears welling up in his eyes as the realization as to what they were flying into sunk in.

The shuttle continued along its path, the three watching fearfully as the first blasts of blazing plasma, brighter than the sun itself, flared across the sky. One of the warships on the right side was hit, the blast instantly ripping it apart in a fiery white explosion.

The battle had begun.

The blast snapped Ricky into action, and he immediately flung the ship down towards the rocky terrain as a barrage of smaller beams flew by overhead. Dragons clashed in the air, trading fire and engaging in close quarters combat with blades coated in energy. A small group of metal dragons, reminiscent of the one back on the Salvation, flew in and began tearing apart a battalion of dragons of various tribes with beams of concentrated plasma erupting from their mouths. Another squad of dragons flew in to fight by the metal dragons' side, but the whole group was scattered when the burning wreckage of a smaller ship came crashing down around them.

Ricky yanked the steering wheel of the shuttle back, pulling the ship sharply upwards as he flew past the debris, and throwing Lin to the back. She listened to the sounds of energy blasts pinging off of the side of the shuttle, its armor proving to be surprisingly resilient against the onslaught.

_Why...why is this happening? Why did it have to be this? _Lin thought, pure terror coursing through her veins. _Not again. I can't do this again!_

"Ricky, down there!" she heard Hidden shout. The shuttle lurched downwards once again, Lin quickly grabbing a rail running around the chamber to keep herself from being thrown forward. The shuttle took a nosedive towards the rocky earth below, diving into a small crevice as a massive plasma beam scorched the earth behind them. The craft shuddered, coming to a rough landing on a small bed of gravel at the base of the jagged ravine.

Lin could hear the two dragons in the cockpit catching their breath, the sounds of the battle muffled by the jagged cliffs above. They seemed to be safe for the time being, but it was quite clear that that wouldn't last.

"We...we need to get out of here…." Ricky said through shallow breaths.

"Yeah, ya think?" Hidden remarked. He looked down at the dashboard, and then back over to Ricky. "I can try to see if I can get the portal systems working, but no promises."

"I could go out and keep watch while you do so." Ricky offered.

Hidden shook his head. "Maybe Lin should go, she's the best fighter here."

The two turned back to Lin, who was curled up against the back wall of the shuttle, breathing heavily. She hated the way they looked at her, the disappointment on their faces in seeing her like this, but she didn't have the energy to retort. She was having a hard enough time breathing already.

"Alright, just, please try not to get killed." Hidden said. Ricky turned to Lin one last time, and stepped out of the shuttle door, Hidden sliding over for a closer look at the dashboard.

Lin remained curled up on the floor of the shuttle for a moment, furious with herself for looking so helpless, and furious at the fact that her inability to get up would likely get that SkyWing killed.

_Come on Lin._ she thought between shallow breaths, _Get up off of your tail and get out there! You...you can't lose them too…._

Lin shook her head, situating herself on her haunches as she took deep breaths. She sat meditating for a short while, just as she had in Darkstalker's dungeon, though the pressing matter at talon cut it short. She slipped out of the shuttle, telling Hidden that she'd be joining Ricky on watch.

"Make sure he comes back okay, alright?" Hidden stated, focused on the dashboard in front of him. Lin silently nodded, and stepped out into the crevice.

The area they had landed in was about three times as wide as the shuttle, with sheer rocky cliffs on either side. The sounds of the battle above echoed off of the canyon walls, bright flashes of light occasionally slipping in between them as another warship was torn to shreds.

The ground shuddered as one of the damaged vessels came crashing to the earth, and Lin frantically looked around for any sign of the SkyWing. He didn't seem to be in the crevice, causing Lin to wonder if he had flown up to the surface. She thought about heading up to look for him, but hesitated, afraid of what she might see.

_Quit worrying and get up there, you've already wasted enough time!_

Just as she was about to take flight, a strange metal object fell from the sky, veering right into the crevice. At first Lin thought it was a chunk of one of the destroyed warships, but quickly realized that wasn't the case as it activated two thrusters on its back, extending two bulky metal legs as it came down for a landing behind the shuttle..

Its body was roughly rectangular, with a curved front. A single glowing white eye was positioned on each side of the hull, and two thick cylinders were situated on its sides. It walked about on its two, bird-like legs, jerking its body around to face Lin, and then the shuttle.

Lin didn't know what to make of it, was it alive? Was a human piloting it? Something about the way it moved didn't seem to suggest so, with each movement feeling sudden and disconnected.

The metal creature took a step forward, and Lin made her move. She lunged at the mechanical beast, swiping her tail at its legs in an attempt to topple it. The machine didn't budge, pain rocketing up through Lin's tail after hitting reinforced steel.

She winced from the pain, slowly backing away as the metal creature turned to face her. It's cold, emotionless white eye stared at the EarthWing, and Lin realized that the cylinders on its sides were heating up, a burning orange energy building up inside of them.

She readied herself to make a break for it the moment it fired, when a bright blue blast of energy shot down from above the crevice, piercing straight through the metallic monster. The energy in the machine's cylinders subsided as it fell over backwards, a gaping hole burned straight through its mechanical body.

Lin looked up to see Ricky gliding down from one of the overhanging crags, another cylindrical device in his talons, it's opening still smoking from the blast. The SkyWing briefly looked at the dead machine, and then at his weapon, a shocked expression on his face. "We...really do need to get out of here." he said.

The two hurried back to the shuttle, Hidden looking at them in confusion. "What the _moons _was that back there?" he asked.

Ricky shrugged. "Some robot tried to attack Lin, so I kinda shot it with...this." he explained, holding up the device.

"Woah! Where'd you get it?"

"Uh...don't ask…." Ricky said meekly.

The SkyWing sat back in place in front of the dashboard, Hidden situated next to him, and Lin walked back into the main chamber.

"Nothing I do will get the thing to work, I think something's jamming it." Hidden explained. "Maybe if we get out of the battlefield, it will start working again."

"H-How are we supposed to do that?" Ricky asked.

Hidden smirked. "You're gonna fly us out. It'll be just like we're back at NitroWing!"

"This is nothing like a go kart Hidden!" Reggie shouted. Lin was somewhat surprised to hear the friendly SkyWing raise his voice.

"Well, of the three of us here, you're the only one who spent the week on that island learning to fly these things. The last time I tried I nearly crashed on the beach!" Hidden exclaimed.

Ricky sighed, turning back to the dashboard. "Alright, I'll see what I can do." He said, "Though I can't guarantee we'll make it out of here alive."

Hidden grinned, and Ricky lifted the shuttle into the air, carefully maneuvering it out of the crevice. The ship lurched as it scraped against one of the crags, but soon enough they were in the air.

The battle was still raging, burning beams of super heated plasma scorching the earth and sending thick black smoke into the air. Ricky attempted to fly above the smog, only to be met by the titanic warships clashing up above.

Lin could already feel herself panicking once again, and she attempted to return to meditating to keep it at bay, though the constant swerving and diving of the shuttle made that practically impossible. She gripped the railing, staring out of the windshield as Ricky attempted to find them an opening in the chaos.

It felt like time had slowed to a crawl as the shuttle veered wildly through the unrelenting slaughter. A piece of debris bounced off of the roof of the shuttle, making Lin wonder why their craft hadn't been torn apart yet. It had certainly sustained quite the beating.

"There, that's our opening!" she heard Hidden shout.

"Are you crazy?!" Ricky retorted.

"When am I not?"

Their voices slowly began to meld with the drone of the battle outside. She watched as Ricky swerved the shuttle straight for the burning wreckage of a massive warship, slowly falling from the sky as its thrusters failed. He aimed for a gaping hole in the ship, fires burning all around them as they scraped their way through the doomed vessel.

With one last push, they made it through, the number of ships on the other side significantly diminished. Lin saw familiar blue sparks begin to stream out ahead of the shuttle, and before she knew it, they were off into another portal, the chaos of the battle left far behind.

* * *

**?**

The shuttle burst through another portal, careening down as Ricky struggled to stabilize the craft. Lin could barely tell where they were, having been wildly tossed about the cabin during the preceding flight, though she figured they'd find out soon enough.

The shuttle slid across the ground, sending sand flying across the windshield. Lin groaned, slowly getting to her feet as Hidden and Ricky scanned their surroundings.

"Looks like we wound up on a beach." Hidden explained, "There doesn't seem to be anyone around...thankfully."

The two let out a simultaneous sigh of relief as they slipped out of the cockpit, and Lin touched a small screen next to the rear door of the shuttle, causing it to lower. She stepped down the metal ramp, feeling the soft ocean sand between her claws.

_Thank the moons that's over with…._ she thought, sighing.

The three moons shone overhead, two crescents and one gibbous, and from her best guess it was much earlier in the night than it had been in that last timeline. She gazed up and down the beach, the softly churning ocean on one side, and a boundless savanna barren of trees to the other. Crickets chirped as the waves brushed against the sand, granting the beach a welcome feeling of serenity after escaping such a cataclysmic world. The terrain didn't seem at all familiar to her, though she was starting to get used to that.

"The shuttle says we landed somewhere on the eastern coast of Pantala." Ricky commented. Hidden spun around, staring at a small formation of rocks jutting out over the beach. From this angle, they almost looked like a dragon's talon reaching out of the earth and across the sand.

"Ricky, do you know where this is?" Hidden said excitedly, taking in a deep breath of the ocean air.

"Yeah...Pantala. Didn't I just say that?"

"Dude, this is the beach we went to with dad, remember!"

Ricky looked over at the stone talon, and gasped. The two brothers stood together on the sand, gazing at the odd formation with ear to ear grins on their faces.

"I-I can't believe it? Does this mean?" Ricky asked.

"Doubt it." Hidden said bluntly, "Though it's still pretty cool, huh?"

Ricky chuckled. "Remember when we buried you in the sand, where only your head stuck out?" he said with a grin.

Hidden shuddered. "You think I could forget _that?_ I had sand stuck between my scales for weeks! It itched like crazy!"

The two stood chuckling for a moment, Lin watching from a few paces away. Despite their overall joyous expressions, Lin thought she saw a hint of sadness in them, possibly homesickness. She thought back to her own world, her own brother. She'd left him to go on this wild trip, travelling with these dragons across the multiverse to help them find their home. She'd never really considered what she'd do once they did, however. Would she just...go back?

Her train of thought was interrupted by another portal opening up over the sea. Another ship, slightly larger than the shuttle, burst out of the portal, flying right towards them. The three dragons turned to face it, Lin preparing to fight off whatever may have followed them, but the ship never stopped, flying right over their heads and into the savanna beyond.

The three paused, casting each other a quick glance before taking off into the air for a better look. There, only a couple minutes' flight away, was a small collection of buildings, glowing brightly amongst the dark backdrop of the night sky. The ship from earlier flew over a collection of large circular buildings with open roofs, slowly coming down for a landing.

"Hidden, is that?" Ricky asked.

"Yep, that's our inter-timeline town!" Hidden said with an excited grin. The trio gilded back down to the shuttle, Hidden popping into the cockpit to retrieve his PDA.

"This is it." he exclaimed, "If we find someone who knows their way around the multiverse, then we could be back in our timeline in no time!"

_It seems my time with these dragons may actually be coming to an end._ Lin thought, watching Hidden pace back across the beach and preparing to take off. She walked over to join him, leaving Ricky standing by the shuttle.

"Hey Ricky, you coming?" Hidden asked.

Ricky shook his head. "I think I'll stay back and guard the shuttle. If anyone tries to steal it, then I've got this!" he said, pulling out the long cylindrical weapon from before.

Hidden smirked. "Robots are one thing, but when have I ever known you to be willing to shoot someone?"

"I'm not. But just having this should hopefully deter any thieves."

Hidden waved at his brother, and Ricky waved back. He turned to Lin, and the two of them took off for the small town on the savanna.

It took mere moments to glide across the barren plains to the small settlement. The two landed just outside of town, walking down a beaten cobblestone path as they passed the few buildings lining its outskirts. Most of the structures didn't reach higher than two floors, and were painted with white and brown plasters that in many places peeled away to reveal the faded clay bricks beneath.

As they entered the more clustered portion of the town, Lin looked up to see many black wires strung between the buildings, haphazardly draped across the narrow roads. She looked between the buildings, seeing many brightly colored signs and glowing ghost-like images detailing the names of various shops. A few street lamps here and there cast a soft yellow glow over the pavement, moths propagating about the bright sources of light.

There were few dragons in the town, and most of the ones Lin saw looked similar to the three tribes she hadn't recognized in that "Singles" game. She did see a couple of SunWings, or SkyWings, as she assumed they were called here, stepping into one of the shops, and a NightWing sitting atop the roof of another. Even a few humans could be seen walking about, to her surprise. None of the pedestrians seemed to pay the duo much mind, however, only ever casting them the occasional curious glance.

"You know, I was kind of expecting something a bit more..._grandiose_." Lin commented, looking around at the quaint buildings. If it weren't for the technology on display and the strange locals, she would have thought she was back in her own timeline.

"Yeah, it is a _bit_ underwhelming. Though I doubt this place is even on any maps, considering how small it is. There's probably _much _larger cities out there!" Hidden said.

The two stepped into a plaza like area, the buildings encircling an open courtyard with a massive willow tree at its center. The collection of large circular buildings sat to their left, the ship from before rising up from one of them, with various large metal containers latched to its sides.

Lin started making her way into the plaza, but Hidden hesitated, staring at the willow tree at its center. "Wait, is that?"

A dragon sat beneath the tree, with greenish yellow scales accented by dark purple. She had two pairs of insect-like wings, and a pair of antennae along with her horns. Two strange devices were harnessed to her sides, and she sat fiddling with a transparent projection emanating from an earpiece around her right ear.

"Luna?"

* * *

**AN:**

**I was a little worried about Ricky's character in blowing apart that robot, though I think Hidden's statement about robots being one thing lampshades it a bit. The main purpose there was to set up Lin's short arc of learning that her own physical capabilities won't be enough in a multiverse with advanced technologies, and that she'll have to learn to adapt to using such tech alongside her fighting prowess.**

**We're starting to get to the point where the foundation for the overarching plot is getting laid, stay tuned!**


	24. Chapter 24: The Town of Moss

**Review Responses:**

**Earthpatriot117 - There actually won't really be much of any romance in this story, at least not with the main characters. Romance isn't really my thing, and I don't do shipping. Also, Hidden is probably the last dragon to want to get in a romantic relationship with anyone. There will probably be some future scene where some of the characters discuss their views on the subject, and why none of them really have any romantic interests.**

**Pt35 - I do have this current section of the story mapped out already, though I am still brainstorming ideas for future timelines to visit later on. I'll put that idea in the pile.**

**UnidentifiedWhistlingObject - Yes, that is Darkstalker on the cover there. I feel that this story has elements of things like Star Wars, the Avengers, Anime, and maybe even Rick and Morty (though I've never actually seen that show). For the time being the stakes will remain somewhat the same, though I can promise ****_much_**** larger stakes later on.**

* * *

**Chapter 24: The Town of Moss**

* * *

**Moss Town**

**Central Plaza**

"Hey, Luna! How's it going!" Hidden shouted, starting towards the four-winged dragon. Luna looked up, noticing the SandWing walking over, and groaned. She swiped a talon across the glowing projections, causing them to disappear, and stood up to address the two.

"You again? Did you _follow _me here?" She asked, raising a brow at the SandWing.

"Nah, we're just passing through, hoping we can find some helpful info." Hidden explained. Lin walked up by his side, the SandWing gesturing to her. "This is Lin, by the way. She's from a different timeline than Xavier and I."

"What, did these scale brains kidnap you or something." Luna asked, turning to Lin with a sly grin.

Lin almost wished that were the case, but she shook her head. "No, I decided to come along with them. Though I am starting to wonder what I was thinking in making such a decision."

Luna chuckled, and turned back to Hidden. "What are you doing in Moss Town anyway? You didn't forget how to pilot that shuttle, did you?" she asked.

Hidden shook his head. "We've actually been hoping for a place like this, though, we did get caught in some kind of massive inter-timeline battle on the way here. Barely made it out alive, but hey, what's new?"

"I _did_ give you guys that no-go list, didn't I?" Luna asked.

"You think we'd be crazy enough to actually go into one of those timelines?" Hidden asked, "Wait, don't answer that."

Luna frowned, pausing to think for a moment. "Well, the front lines are always changing around here." she mused.

"And 'here' would be?" Hidden asked.

"Moss Town, as I said earlier." Luna clarified, "It's a small settlement on the edge of Alliance territory."

"You said something about front lines. Is there really some kind of war going on out there?" Lin asked, stepping forward.

Luna nodded. "Yeah, the Second Great Multiverse War. It's been raging for like, three years now. Moons, you guys really were raised under a rock."

She turned, preparing to leave. "At any rate, I doubt it's any of your business, and frankly, it's none of mine either." she said, turning back to the two. "Now if you don't mind, I have important business to attend to."

She briefly paused, looking at some more projections from her earpiece before strolling across the plaza. "Good luck finding your timeline, or whatever." she said as she disappeared down an adjoining street.

Hidden and Lin stood for a moment in the empty plaza, the willow swaying gently in the breeze beside them, before Lin spoke up.

"So, what now?"

Hidden looked around at the cobbled streets running off of the plaza. "We could try looking around for someone who might have some useful information, and maybe do a little window shopping while we're at it."

"While I'm not sure what you mean by 'window shopping', I don't think I need to remind you that any kind of shopping requires money, which I doubt we have." Lin explained.

Hidden paused, reaching into his bag to retrieve a small folded leather pouch. He opened it up, pulling out a green slip of paper and passing it to Lin for her to see. "I've got some money from my world, but I doubt it will work here." he explained.

Lin looked over the thin slip of paper, an image of a SkyWing in the center and the number 20 on all four corners. It surprisingly reminded her of home, despite looking nothing like the Earth Kingdom's currency. Of the few tribes that had adopted a monetary system in her timeline, her's was the only one to use paper currency.

The bill reminded her of a time years before, back when she and her brother were young dragonets. They had gone about making flower bracelets and selling them to the other dragons in Fallside Village. She still remembered the joy on her brother's face in seeing the other villagers wearing their bracelets in the days that followed. Life had been so simple back then, when the war of DustWing succession was only a passing thought in their lives.

"Lin? Hey, Lin!" she heard Hidden shout. She blinked, staring at the SandWing that had pulled her out of her fond reminiscence. "You were spacing out there for a second, everything alright?"

"It's nothing." Lin assured, passing Hidden back the slip of paper money. "If you want to take a quick look around, then let's go. But we need to regroup with the others soon." She started making her way toward a side street with a larger number of glowing signs, a small metal plate on a thin metal pole reading **Blue Avn**. She heard Hidden walking up beside her, shoving his leather pouch back into his bag.

The two walked out of the plaza, strolling down the narrow road. Large projections, Holograms, as Hidden described them, towered above them, depicting the various wares and services of the quaint shops beneath them. Wires draped overhead, like a dark spider's web spun between the many buildings. Lin looked in through a glass door to see what looked like a pub, a few dragons sitting silently at the bar, heads hung low over mugs of alcohol.

They passed a wide variety of shops, from stores selling various day to day necessities Lin could hardly recognize, to carts peddling products described as "As Seen on TV", whatever that was. Eventually, they arrived at what seemed to be a market, though it didn't look like any kind of market Lin had ever seen.

Hidden looked in through tall glass windows on the front side of the building, and motioned Lin to follow inside. The glass doors slid open before them, and upon entering, Lin was greeted by rows and rows of shelves, lined with various cans, boxes, and other assorted containers. She walked into one of the aisles, picking up a box of "Fruity Flakes", a stylized depiction of a Macaw standing happily next to a bowl of colorful flakes and white liquid she assumed to be milk on the box.

She readied to put the box back on the shelf, when another hologram popped up out of a device clipped to the shelf. Lin hopped back, startled, dropping the box to the dirty white tile floor as a semi-transparent scene played out before her.

It depicted a family of SandWings, all sitting around a table eating a nondescript brown mush, and all looking quite bored. Suddenly, the macaw from the box appeared, the family excitedly grinning as he magically transformed their mush into bowls of the colorful flakes while describing the various colors' flavors.

"Woah, it's just like in my world, but, more high tech I guess." Hidden said, causing Lin to jump once again at the sudden appearance of the SandWing. "It seems capitalism is the same no matter what timeline you're in!"

He turned to walk back towards the front of the store, strolling up to a female HiveWing sitting behind a counter near the entrance. Lin put the box back on the shelf, the hologram quickly vanishing, and walked over to join him.

"Hey, uh, what exactly do you use as money here?" Hidden asked.

"Huh, what?" the HiveWing asked, looking up from a short stack of folded papers depicting dragons wearing various expensive looking garments. She had a metal ring pierced around one of her nostrils, and looked to be somewhere in her mid-twenties. Lin also noticed another device like Luna's around her right ear.

"We're from out of town, and aren't very familiar with the local currency around here." Hidden explained.

The HiveWing looked between the two, a confused look on her face. "We use scales, just like everyone else in Alliance territory." she explained.

"Huh, that's what the Pantalan currency back home is called." Hidden muttered to himself, "Doubt it's the same though."

"Look, are you gonna buy something or what?" the HiveWing asked.

"We're just having a look around, that's all." Lin explained. The HiveWing turned back to her papers, tuning out the two as they stepped out of the market.

"I was looking at the baked goods section, and it seems a loaf of bread is about 180 scales. If we figure out how to get some, we could easily resupply." Hidden explained.

"Aren't we supposed to be asking about your timeline?" Lin asked.

Hidden paused, looking around at the many shops lining the street. "We do need to do that too, though I doubt that cashier would have been very helpful. And we can't just go asking random dragons where our timeline is, can we?"

He suddenly laid eyes on a specific shop, pointing towards it. "There, we can ask the guy running that place!"

Lin squinted at the shop Hidden had pointed out. It was a small two story building, wedged between another pub and what was called a "salon". A bright neon blue sign reading _PAWN_ hung above two dark wooden doors.

"A pawn shop? Really?" Lin asked.

Hidden grinned. "Come on, there have to have been a ton of items through that place. Perhaps some information came with it. You got any better ideas?"

Lin thought for a moment. She had considered finding the one in charge of the town and asking them, though from the looks of things this place was too small and insignificant to bother with that. If one was to find information in a place like this, it would likely be in a pawn shop like Hidden had suggested, or in one of the pubs, and Lin knew which one she preferred.

"Alright." she said, "We'll go to the pawn shop."

The two stepped in through the wooden doors, a soft bell chiming as they walked into the warmly lit building. There were no windows, the walls paneled with a similar dark wood as the doors. The electric lights above bathed the room in a warm yellow light, illuminating metal shelves stuffed to the brim with an assortment of curios.

"Oh, um...welcome!" said a green dragon with odd leaf shaped wings from behind a counter at the back of the store, "If you need anything, feel free to ask."

"Actually, there is something we want to know." Hidden stated, walking up to the counter. Lin stepped off to the side, admiring the eclectic collection of items on the store's shelves. Most of it seemed to be junk, though there were also quite a few items that appeared to be antiques, as well as an assortment of technological devices beyond her understanding. She passed a glass sphere, watching curiously as a small metal ball at its center sent purple bolts of electricity all about the globe.

"You sure you don't know where it is, or at least could point us in the right direction?" she heard Hidden ask.

"I'm sorry, but the multiverse is a large place, and a timeline like that could easily blend in with the rest." the leaf-winged dragon replied.

"Well, it was worth a shot…." Hidden said, looking around at some racks on the counter. He picked up a device from one of them, looking over it curiously. "Hey, what's this?"

"That, my friend, is a universal translator." the shopkeeper explained, "Though, it doesn't work in most timelines. The thing's practically magic!"

""You didn't have to say that." Hidden stated, placing the translator back on the rack, "I doubt that's good for business."

"I pride myself on being an honest shopkeeper, and I'd say it's been working out quite well for me in...hey, careful with that! It's quite expensive!"

Lin paused, having picked up a curious spherical contraption with a groove carved around its circumference. It seemed like the two halves of it could be pressed together, likely activating the device.

"What is it?" Lin asked, placing it back on the shelf. Hidden walked over to get a closer look.

"It's a local distortion array, a used one, but still very much functional." the shopkeeper explained, "It causes a small area to temporarily run by the rules of another timeline. For example, if you were in a timeline without magic, you could use this to have a small area where you can use magic."

"And vice versa, I assume?" Hidden asked, an excited grin growing on his face. The leaf dragon nodded.

"But, as I said, it's very expensive. I couldn't accept anything less than one hundred thousand scales for it." they concluded. Hidden nodded, motioning for Lin to follow him out of the shop.

"Well uh, thanks anyway!" he said as the two stepped out, waving briefly to the shopkeeper as Lin stood on the cobbled street once again.

"You don't really think you'll be able to get that thing, do you?' Lin asked.

Hidden shrugged. "It _would_ be helpful in case we go up against someone like Darkstalker again." he stated, "Though I can't see us getting that much money any time soon." He began pacing up and down the street, muttering. "We should probably head back to Ricky and have the Salvation park nearby, before looking around any more. We'd be able to cover more ground with the others."

Lin tuned out his train of thought, her attention caught by a poster hanging on a worn brick wall across the street. She walked over to get a closer look, lightly chuckling when she saw what it was advertising.

**FRIDAY FIGHT NIGHT, 250,000 SCALE GRAND PRIZE **it read in bold red lettering, the text practically popping off of the paper. **Fighting starts at midnight under the Pancake House on Sundew Avenue! Do you have what it takes to claim victory in the cage?**

_Just our luck._ Lin thought, turning to see Hidden standing behind her, the same excited grin on his face as when he was first showing off that flying contraption of his, Bippy, if she remembered correctly. She sighed.

"You really think I'm going to enter some fighting tournament just so you can get that distortion gizmo?" she asked.

"_Well…._" Hidden started, "We are flat broke, and we _could_ use what's left to stock up on supplies."

Lin looked back at the poster, and then up at the night sky. The three moons were already high overhead, and Lin figured midnight would come within the next hour or so. If they were going to do this, they'd have to do it now.

"Alright." Lin finally said, "Let's go find this 'Pancake House'."

* * *

**AN:**

**For much of this chapter, I was really worried about character motivation and keeping them on track. I was concerned that it seemed like they were getting sidetracked from their goal of finding relevant information with their goal of making some money, and some parts seem a bit convenient and contrived. I do think I got it mostly working though, and convenient stuff like that does happen quite often in stories like this. Also, I hope their interaction with Luna wasn't too short, there will be more soon!**

**Stay tuned!**


	25. Chapter 25: Friday Fight Night

**Review Responses:**

**Pt35 - That does seem pretty funny, but I was already writing the first fight in this chapter when the review came in, and knew what I was going to do for the second. Hopefully they're entertaining enough to make up for the somewhat convenient plot of this "episode"!**

**Earthpatriot117 - I have trouble remembering all the details of this story and the WoF canon too sometimes...**

**UnidentifiedWhistlingObject - The references to arc three characters are really just supposed to be Easter eggs, and I still don't know how I'll work in Swordtail's name somewhere.**

* * *

**Chapter 25: Friday Fight Night**

* * *

**Sundew Avenue**

**Near Midnight**

Unlike Blue Avenue, Sundew Avenue was primarily lined with thin, two story houses. They resembled many of the other buildings found throughout Moss Town, with worn brick walls and shingled roofs, but lacked the flamboyant signs and flickering holograms found in the shopping districts. Occasionally, they would pass a pedestrian or two, walking down the cobbled street or stepping into one of the houses.

Another ship flew over, angling down to the right where the large circular ports were. It's faded green hull was riddled with dents and scorch marks, a chilling reminder of the violence in this part of the multiverse.

Lin shook her head, turning her attention back to the matter at talon. The Pancake House was nowhere to be seen, the street seemingly only home to residential buildings. As they made their way further from the central plaza, the buildings began to thin, the tightly squeezed multi story houses replaced by more sparsely placed single story ones.

And there, near the end of the avenue, sitting on the side of a small hill atop a thick foundation built of remarkably smooth stone, was their destination.

It was a relatively small building, with walls built of dark red brick and large glass windows that nearly stretched from the floor to the ceiling. Atop its flat roof stood a large glowing white electric sign reading **The Pancake House**. The windows were darkened, and as they approached, they saw that the place was empty.

"What even _is _a pancake?" Lin asked as they approached the building.

"Well, it's kind of a flat piece of bread, but very fluffy and cake like. And uh, you make it in a pan." Hidden explained. Lin cocked her head, trying to imagine such a bizarre delicacy.

Hidden walked up to the two glass front doors, a piece of paper attached to one of them. "Closed for Fight Night." he read aloud, turning back to Lin, "Guess that means we're at the right place."

Despite the vacated building, Lin could have sworn she heard the sounds of dragons from somewhere. She and Hidden walked around the building, and spotted a small metal door on the side of the foundation. It was propped open with a brick, a flickering electric lamp hanging just inside. Hidden nodded to Lin, and the two stepped beneath the building.

They were immediately greeted by the sound of excited chatter. Looking around at their surroundings, Lin realized that they were in a somewhat large underground chamber, its walls lined with the same smooth stone as the foundation, and lit by a dozen or so bright white spotlights hanging from metal rafters mounted to the ceiling.

They were standing on an upper walkway that ran around the chamber, circling a large octagonal cage of twisted metal wire that sat beneath them. Dragons sat excitedly on bleachers set about the walkway, eagerly awaiting the fights to come.

"Welcome to Friday Fight Night!" a muscular SandWing said, standing behind a counter that stood at the entrance to the club. "I can't say I've seen you two around here before, what brings you to my club?"

Lin looked the SandWing over. He had yellow scales with a slight brownish tint to them, and a few scars across his legs and underbelly. "I'm Lin, and this is Hidden." she explained, "Are you the owner of this place?"

"Yep, started it beneath my restaurant 'bout two years back, I always did enjoy a good fight." he explained eagerly. "So, you here to see the fights? Admissions for adults are 550 scales apiece."

"Actually, we're here to sign up." Hidden stated, leaning casually against the counter.

"Wait, we?" Lin asked.

"Yeah, I'm joining it too. It'll give us a better shot at the prize." Hidden explained. The SandWing gave him an irritated look, sighing.

"Well, we do have three spots open, so I guess I could register you both." he said, clearly regretting not instituting a rule against such a thing.

Lin looked down at the cage below, its sandy floor reminding her of the SunWing arena she'd heard so many terrible stories about. Attached to each side of the cage was a short fenced-in walkway, each leading to a solid stone box that seemed only accessible through a thick steel door.

"Hidden, are you absolutely sure about this?" she asked, "Something about this place seems...wrong."

"Oh, don't worry." the SandWing assured, "This isn't some lawless back-alley ring. Contestants only fight until one is either pinned or taps out. Any serious injuries are strictly against the rules."

"Huh." Hidden remarked, as the owner of the establishment tapped at a small screen mounted to the counter. "This town is a lot nicer than I initially expected." He walked over next to Lin, staring over the walkway's railing at the cage below. "I half expected us to have been mugged by now."

"Alright, that should just about finish it." the SandWing behind the counter exclaimed. "Head down those stairs over there to the armory, and once you're ready, step into the cell with your name above it."

"Armory?" Lin asked, Hidden already making his way down the steep metal steps.

"Oh, don't worry, none of the weapons are lethal!" the SandWing assured once again.

Lin shook her head, sighing, her question not really answered, and made her way down the steps after Hidden.

The armory was a cramped, narrow hallway that ran around the edge of the club. The outer wall was lined with a wide assortment of weapons, from padded spears to mechanical gauntlets, as well as a selection of body armor. Some mechs that looked eerily similar to the Reggie-tron, save for brown leather padding that covered their shiny metal exteriors, stood to the side, chest cavities open revealing the empty cockpits.

Lin spotted Hidden asking about the various weapons with a SeaWing who really didn't want to be bothered. _Now you see what I have to put up with on a daily basis._ she thought to herself, smirking.

She made her way around the armory, looking at the doors spaced along the inner wall until she found hers. A short, wide screen above the open doorway read her name in bold black letters, signifying that this was her cell to take.

She took one last look around the armory, and suddenly spotted a familiar looking SilkWing walking into one of the cells. She didn't get a chance to get a closer look, though, as she was distracted by Hidden.

"Not grabbing anything?" he asked, having strapped the two devices around his foretalons. A long padded pole was held to his side, and some leather armor had been strapped around his chest and legs.

"Dragons have enough natural weapons to hold their own, I think I'll be fine." she exclaimed.

"Eh, suit yourself." Hidden said, shrugging, as he stepped into his cell. A thick metal door slammed shut behind him, almost startling Lin.

She turned to look into her own cell, the dark, cramped room lit by a single dim light. She hesitantly stepped in, the door slamming shut behind her and trapping her in the enclosed space.

_Why did you agree to this again?_ she thought to herself, looking around the small chamber. She barely had enough room to turn around, and her wings were pressed close against her sides.

She sighed, sitting down on the floor and attempting to meditate while waiting for her fight. Yet, no matter how much she tried to ease her mind, it was still consumed by images of dragons dying on the battlefield. She growled, slamming the hard stone floor with a talon as she got to her feet.

_Why isn't it working?!_ She thought to herself, the sounds of fighting and cheering muffled by the solid stone walls surrounding her to the point where she could barely make out what was being said. _Moons, is this what it felt like for those three in the Empress' dungeon?_

She waited for her time to fight, listening to the white noise of the cheering crowd above her. The cell felt almost tranquil amidst the cacophony, so why was she still unable to relax?

Another metal door slowly slid up in front of her. Bright light from the spotlights high above shot into the small stone room, nearly blinding Lin as she stepped out along the short fenced-in path to the cage. A door cut into the twisting metal bars swung open before her, slamming shut one she had stepped onto the sandy arena floor.

Her eyes were still adjusting from the rapid change in light level, yet Lin could have sworn that there was nobody else in the cage with her. She took a look around, spotting a yellow-scaled dragon standing just to her left.

"Welp, it was worth a shot."

"_Hidden?_" Lin asked, her eyes finally adjusted. The SandWing seemed somewhat less surprised than her, looking up at where they had entered the club. The SandWing who owned the place was standing up there, grinning knowingly.

"Guess this is what you get when you try to cheat the system." Hidden remarked. A loud horn sounded, signaling the start of the fight. "So, how believable do you think we should make this?"

Lin donned a sly grin, and lunged at Hidden, swiping a talon down at the SandWing and forcing him to flee to the other side of the cage. "HEY! What was that for?!" he shouted.

"You really think I'm going to let you throw the fight?" Lin asked.

Hidden shrugged. "It'd make the most sense, then you could save your energy for the next fights." he explained. The audience started booing, having overheard the duo's conversation..

Lin chuckled. "Come on SandWing, I want to see how far you've come with your training. You _were _the one who asked for it, weren't you?"

Hidden smirked. "Alright, if you say so."

The SandWing leapt forward, Lin bracing herself for the blow when he suddenly reached to his side and pulled out the padded sword, swinging it in a wide arc at her. She barely had enough time to leap backwards as it sliced past her abdomen.

Hidden grinned, and spun around once more, swinging his tail and the pole across the sandy arena floor in an attempt to whip up a cloud of dust. Instead, he merely wound up drawing a circle in the sand around him, standing awkwardly in its center.

"Huh, I swear it worked differently in the movies." he remarked, before quickly darting away with a yelp as Lin rushed in for an attack. She swung around, sliding in to sweep his legs with her tail just as he was about to touch down, when Hidden suddenly flapped his wings right in her face, distracting her and allowing him to leap out of the way.

"You know, you're going to have to use some new tricks. I learn quickly." he said, when Lin grabbed a hold of his tail and flung him to the ground once again. He rolled out of the way, just as she was about to pin him and win the fight.

"And you still haven't learned to keep your mouth shut during a fight." she retorted.

"_Come on._" Hidden remarked, "It makes things far more interesting if you ask me."

He leapt forward once again, sword held high over his head, and Lin prepared to block the attack. Hidden brought the sword down early, though, hurling it straight at Lin's head. She swatted it aside, but by then Hidden had gotten in close, both foretalons held ready for a double gut punch.

_Nice move, though it's gonna take more than a single blow to take care of…._

A massive burst of energy was unleashed from the devices strapped to Hidden's foretalons, just as they made contact with Lin's underbelly. Lin winced, and was thrown back into the cage wall, slamming into the twisted metal bars and leaving a large dent in the structure.

Lin groaned, pulling herself off of the cage and landing back on the arena floor. She was breathing heavily, her stomach aching to the point where she felt almost ready to vomit. The crowd roared.

_What are you doing Lin, this fight should be over already._ she thought to herself. She didn't have much time to rest, though, as Hidden lunged forward once again, swinging his foretalons left and right. Lin deftly dodged his attacks, knowing all too well that another hit like that would likely be the end for her.

"So, what do you think?" Hidden asked, "I'd say I'm doing pretty good here."

"Coming from the one with the magic power gloves!" Lin retorted, "This is hardly a fair fight!" She dropped down, avoiding a blow from Hidden and landing a solid kick on his stomach. Despite the protective padding there, Hidden was still sent reeling.

_You certainly haven't gotten much tougher since we last fought._

"Hey." he wheezed, righting himself, "You're the one who decided not to grab anything from the armory."

Lin growled. If she kept this up, she'd just tire herself out. "Perhaps." she said, "And I'll admit, those weapons are quite impressive." She leapt forward, Hidden readying to strike, and flung her wings out in front of her as a distraction, just as he had done moments before.

Hidden hesitated, only briefly, but long enough for her to elbow him right in the chest. He fell back, Lin quickly grabbing his foretalons as she pinned him to the ground, just as she had in the Salvation's hangar bay days before.

"Three, two, one, we have our winner!" the SandWing shouted from above. Lin grinned.

"But one still needs skill and training to wield them properly." she said, lending a talon to Hidden to help him up. He coughed, looking around at the roaring crowd.

"Yep, that seems about right." he said, stretching out his back. He walked over to pick up the padded sword, and paced back to the gateway leading to his cell. "Good luck with the next fight. I hope I didn't tire you out _too_ much."

"Don't sweat it." she replied, making her way back to her own cell. As the metal door slammed shut behind her, she paused, kneeling to the cold stone floor of the cramped space to catch her breath. She had, indeed, exerted far more energy than she initially intended. Perhaps Hidden had been right in wanting to throw the match?

She shook her head, she knew she would never throw a fight, nor let her opponent do so either. She had at least a shred of honor. She turned around, sitting down once again on the cold floor of the cell as she took deep breaths. Her blood was still pumping from the fight, and her stomach still felt sore, but if she could clear her head, she might be able to pull this off.

The thick metal door slid open once again, and Lin stepped into the cage just as she had before. This time, her opponent was facing her dead on, one of the mechanical dragons she had seen in the armory. The cockpit slid open, a scrawny, pale skinned human with a bright orange tuft of curly fur on his head sizing her up from his seat in the mech.

Lin sighed. "Great." she grumbled, "First it was Hidden with his power gloves, and now a dragon made almost entirely of metal. This day _can't_ get any better…." She stared at the human in the cockpit, frowning. "Quick question, how am I supposed to fight that thing?" she asked.

The human shrugged. "I dunno, you're the stupid MudWing who didn't grab anything from the armory." they said, snickering as they slammed the metal dragon's chest shut.

Lin growled, a low, guttural growl as rage started to seep up through her. She took a deep breath, focusing the extra energy as the mech slowly rose onto its hind legs, assuming an odd combat stance.

_Metal dragon or otherwise, there's no way I'm losing to a human. _she thought, feeling her body tense in anticipation. _Especially not _that _one_.

The horn sounded once again, and the fight began.

Lin leapt forward, hoping to land a quick blow and end the fight, but the mech spun out of the way, sliding effortlessly on its hind legs and striking Lin in the side of her abdomen. She rolled to the ground, clutching her side. The brown padding covering the mech had somewhat softened the blow, and Lin guessed that it's strength was comparable to any average adult dragon, most likely a handicap to allow for fairer fights.

_Good to know, though you should probably try to _avoid _getting hit._

For the next few minutes, Lin grappled with the mech, her blows seemingly ineffective against the mech's solid metal body. No matter how many times she tried to push it back, it hardly budged, forcing her onto the defensive. The mech was surprisingly agile as well, and its fighting style was unlike anything she had gone up against in the past.

She spun around, narrowly dodging a thrust from one of the mech's foretalons. The metal creature paused, slowly making its way over to her as she backed away, feeling her tail brushing up against the edge of the cage. It towered above her, standing high up on its hind legs, and Lin was almost surprised it hadn't fallen over under the weight of its own wings.

_Wait...that's it!_

She rolled out of the way just in time to avoid another crushing blow from the machine, panting as she clutched a bruise on her right foreleg from their earlier melee. The mech spun around, slowly walking over to her and backing her into one of the eight corners of the cage.

"Sorry MudWing." the pilot's voice called from the mech's robotic jaws, "_I'll_ be taking home that prize money."

"_Not today you hairless ape!_" Lin snarled.

The mech lifted one of its hind legs in response, sending it straight for Lin's face. Lin grinned, and in an instant, launched herself up into the air with a beat of her wings, sand flying everywhere in a cloud of dust.

She landed on the roof of the cage, and before the dust could clear, propelled herself straight down towards the mech's head. She landed right on top of it, the mech, now balanced on only one of its metal talons, sent reeling backwards with her momentum. It hit the sandy floor with a thud, and as the dust cleared, Lin was revealed to be sitting atop it, pinning it to the ground.

She felt the mech struggle under her weight, but the handicap she'd guessed had been placed on it meant that it lacked the strength to lift both itself and her. The SandWing counted to three once again, and Lin was declared the winner. The crowd cheered for her triumph.

"For the record, I'm an EarthWing." she said as the mech stood back up.

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say." the pilot sighed. They walked the mech back into their cell, Lin watching with a satisfied grin. She turned to head back to her cell, but found the gate tightly shut. Instead, a different gate opened up, a greenish yellow SilkWing stepping into the cage.

"_Alright_ everyone! It's time for the final round!" the SandWing shouted in a boisterous tone, his voice blazing from black boxes hanging from the rafters. "In this corner, we have the upstart hot shot Lin, a dragon so confident in her abilities, she chose not to grab _anything_ from the armory!"

The crowd cheered, Lin feeling a slight chill run down her spine at all of the attention. She looked around the stands above her, and thought she saw Hidden staring down at her, donning that same cocky grin he always seemed to wear.

"And in this corner, we have a returning champion, here for her third Friday Fight Night! She's already won her past two tournaments, and is looking to keep that streak alive! Everyone put your talons together for LUNA!"

* * *

**AN:**

**One of the issues that I keep running into is my constant need to explain every little detail of a scene, no matter how insignificant. Like...what were the mech's wings doing in the fight against Lin? I'm also having a difficult time trying to figure out how to put important info into the story without ruining the pacing too. Another tricky thing I'm trying is to describe the world in the way that Lin would understand it, like how the concrete foundation of The Pancake House is described as "remarkably smooth stone".**

**A bit of extra info about Lin's fight with the mech: The mech's strength was meant to be nerfed to that of an average adult dragon, but its weight was still much higher. This meant that, while it did have the strength to lift itself off the ground, it was still very easy to pin. Its weight also, in combination with the bipedal fighting style, made it quite easy to topple if attacked from the right angle with the right amount of momentum. Before Lin was constantly striking it from below, its height easily twice that of her's on its hind legs, but when she attacked it from above while it had left itself open from a kick, she was able to claim victory. Also, another limit of the mech was that it wasn't supposed to be allowed to take in any additional weapons, but I never got around to explaining that in the chapter, and it probably wasn't too crucial of a detail to explain in the grand scheme of things.**

**The final fight against Luna probably wasn't that big of a secret, but hopefully I can make it exciting as well. I've gotta admit that this and the next episodes are quite daunting, considering I still have to map out the fight with Luna, and while I have some base ideas for the next episode, the details and events of it are still up in the air. I'm wondering if I should take a break, and I already did have a hiatus planned for later, but I'm only about halfway to that point.**

**At any rate, be sure to stay tuned for more Wings of Fire: Salvation!**


	26. Chapter 26: Luna

**Review Responses:**

**Pt35 - I remember hearing about how short sword fights can be years ago from a Game Theory pitting the Star Wars lightsaber against the Halo energy sword. I've decided to go a bit more crazy with the fights here though, like the ones in a shonen anime, as that's how I've always imagined them playing out in my head. I did incorporate some of your ideas into this chapter though, and I think it really helped. Thanks for the suggestions!**

**UnidentifiedWhistlingObject - This is the last arena fight I have planned for now, though there may or may not be another way way ****_way_**** later on. Haven't decided yet. Also, scales are supposed to be worth about as much as Japanese yen, and about 96 scales are the equivalent to $1, so really the 250,000 scale prize is about $2,500.**

**Earthpatriot117 - Don't worry, Reggie will learn how to fight with a mech, and Maple too!**

**Quick Note:**

**The Lyrics in this chapter are from Ama Lee's rendition of **_**Strike Back**_**. You can try listening to the song while you're reading that part of the story, and I've even tried pacing it so that the song will flow naturally as you read, though that really depends on your own reading speed and some prior knowledge of the song, so it's really not guaranteed that it'll work right. It's a bit experimental, but I saw something similar done by Nebula the Starwing in their story, and considering how much of this story's initial inspiration came from daydreaming while listening to music, I thought it would be neat to try and convey that here. Pretty much every major fight sequence in my mind has some sort of song associated with it, like the fight against the nanobot Peril was thought up to the tune of **_**Confident**_** by Demi Lovato. Again, the music thing probably only works properly for me, but I thought it was a neat idea anyway.**

* * *

**Chapter 26: Luna**

* * *

**Beneath The Pancake House**

**Midnight**

The crowd roared in anticipation, Lin and Luna sizing each other up from across the octagonal cage. The SilkWing had a variety of weapons strapped to her sides, but had only a small amount of leather body armor, giving Lin the impression that she was the type to prioritize power and speed over durability.

"So you're my last opponent?" Lin asked, gesturing to Luna. "I've never fought a dragon like you before, this should be interesting."

"Don't think I'm gonna hold back just 'cause we're acquainted, Lin." Luna replied.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

The horn sounded off once again, signaling the start of the fight.

"Punch her face in Lin!" someone shouted from the stands. Lin looked up to see Hidden with his talons cupped around his snout. He waved down at her for a second, but his expression quickly changed to one of surprise, alerting Lin to the armed SilkWing charging towards her.

Lin dove out of the way just in time, Luna landing at the spot where she had just been standing. The SilkWing pulled out two short rods from her sides, each about the length of her forelegs, a glowing blue energy emanating from the end of each.

She grinned deviously, and launched herself with a beat of her twin pairs of wings, propelling herself forward with unparalleled speed to strike Lin with the rods. Lin barely had enough time to dodge, one of the rods striking the base of her left wing where it met her shoulder. Lin slid to the side, her left wing falling helplessly to the floor as the joint numbed.

_Stun rods. Of course she has stun rods._

This SilkWing was far more skilled in combat than Hidden was, and unlike the hulking mech had agility that slightly outpaced even Lin. As Luna continued her onslaught, Lin found herself on the defensive for the third time that night, unable to land any significant blows while having to carefully avoid having another part of her paralyzed by the rods.

It was infuriating, and it was clear that Luna felt the same.

"If you keep running away, we'll be here 'till sunrise!" Luna shouted as she continually attempted to land a hit on Lin, the EarthWing always narrowly escaping the touch of her stun rods. The SilkWing growled, and joined the two rods at their ends, creating one long staff. She swung the staff about in wide arks, spinning and twirling it to distract Lin as she prepared to strike.

Lin grinned. In combining her two weapons into one, Luna may have increased her attack range, but she had also left herself far more vulnerable than she had been before. And as the SilkWing swiped once again at Lin, her staff carving a wide arc through the air, Lin leapt forward, aiming to quickly pin the SilkWing while her guard was down.

Suddenly, a small cylindrical device unlatched from a belt wrapped around Luna's torso. Using one of her hind talons, Luna kicked the device straight towards Lin's face, a blinding flash of light erupting from the canister. Lin stumbled backward, falling onto her back as she rubbed at her eyes.

_Moons! What was that?_ she thought, her vision temporarily blurred. She could barely make out the shape of Luna dropping down from above, swinging her staff down for a heavy blow.

Lin instinctively raised her talons, grabbing hold of the staff just as it was about to strike. She felt Luna briefly struggle to yank the staff from her talons, and kicked at the SilkWing's abdomen with both hind legs. Luna was sent reeling back, Lin wresting the staff from her talons in the process.

She got to her feet, shakily standing on her hind legs like the mech she had fought earlier, the staff in her talons. Her vision was still blurry, but Lin thought she could see Luna smiling excitedly back at her.

"You're pretty good." Luna wheezed.

Lin smiled, coughing briefly from sand that she had inhaled moments before. "Yeah, you too."

Lin's ears suddenly perked up, an odd song blazing from the black boxes hung high above. She saw Luna look up towards the entrance of the club, and turning her attention there as well, saw Hidden speaking with the proprietor of the establishment. He cast her a quick grin, holding out a talon in a thumb's up.

"_Your odds are slim. The walls are thin, cavin' in. But there is still a way, you see. In just one mere percent of chance there's possibility._"

Luna turned back to Lin, and Lin turned back to her, the two grinning eagerly at one another as the music ramped up all around them, the audience overflowing with excitement. The SilkWing pulled out another weapon, a shorter rod attached to a long chain that ended in a small ball that glowed with the same pulsating blue energy as the ends of the staff.

"_Bring it on! 'Cause I'm just gonna grow up in the battle hey!_"

The two leapt forward simultaneously, Luna swinging her stun mace forward while Lin prepared to block with the staff. She had only occasionally wielded a spear back in her timeline, but hopefully that that minuscule amount of experience would pay off.

The mace swung overhead, and Lin ducked out of the way, the chain barely missing her snout as she fell backward. She swept the staff towards Luna's legs, the SilkWing leaping up to the roof of the cage.

"_And I never wanna see you cry. I will be screamin' till you find the way._"

Lin felt a small button on the staff's surface, and pressing it broke it in two once again. She rolled out of the way as Luna dove down from above, the mace flailing behind her. She swung it out towards Lin once again, Lin leaping over it and stomping on the chain, preparing to strike Luna with the rods.

Luna pulled the chain out from under her, causing Lin to lose her balance before she could land a hit. She reconnected the two rods, swinging the staff in an attempt to strike Luna from afar, but the SilkWing had already leapt out of range by then.

"_Now I'll strike back!_"

Luna flung out the mace once again, this time ensnaring the staff. She readied to yank it from Lin's talons, but Lin separated the staff once again. Lin yanked the snared half towards her, pulling Luna closer as she struck one of her hind legs with the other.

The SilkWing stumbled, her leg numbed by the rod, but before Lin could land another hit, she opened her maw and unleashed a deafening screech, amplified by two small devices hooked around her ears. Lin stumbled back, clutching her ears as Luna got to her feet.  
"_Yeah we're head to toe in daybreak. Soldiers, follow me now._"

Lin felt the chain of Luna's mace wrap around her left hind leg, and before she knew it she had been pulled to the sandy ground. Luna dove in for a pin, but Lin rolled out of the way, only to be met by the sight of another flash canister heading straight for her. She swatted it aside, the canister's blinding flash instead heading straight back into Luna's face. The SilkWing fell back, dropping the mace as she clawed at her eyes.

_Yeah, not so great when you're the one getting blinded, is it?_

"_This fire burnin' in my heart. It will keep lightin' up to part the way._"

Lin dove in to strike with both rods, only for Luna to hold up one of her talons, a shield of energy erupting from a device on her palm. The rods bounced harmlessly off of the shield, and Luna swung her other fist straight into Lin's chest, the EarthWing realizing just too late that it had another one of the devices Hidden had used strapped to it. She was sent flying backward once again, the mace's chain winding itself around her hind leg even tighter.

Lin staggered to her feet, Luna doing the same. She felt an unrelenting vigor course through her veins. Maybe it was just the upbeat music, but Lin had never felt more pumped up for a fight in her life. Her talons clenched, eyes locked with her opponent.

"_We gotta stand up and go with the pride. It's like the sun risin' way over the clouds._"

The two sprung forward, locked in a close quarters melee, with Lin now on the offensive as she repeatedly sung the rods at Luna, the SilkWing barely able to deflect them with her energy shield as she struggled to land a hit on Lin with her other talon.

As the fighting continued, Lin started to tune out the world around her, the cheering crowd, the loud music, all of it. All she could think about was her fight with Luna. It was as if the two had slipped into an entirely different world, detached from everything else, their minds laser focused on besting their opponent.

Eventually, Luna gave up on attempting to land another hit with her power glove, instead dropping down under Lin's onslaught and grabbing hold of the mace's handle as it flailed from Lin's leg. She grinned excitedly at the prospect of reclaiming one of her weapons and gaining the upper talon once again.

She yanked the chain away from Lin, a resounding snap sounding throughout the club.

Lin fell to the ground, her focus ripped away as pain erupted through her leg. She writhed as she tried to grasp at the broken limb, only to flinch back in pain.

Luna stood to the side for a bit, the smile on her face slowly vanishing as she realized what had happened. The music continued to play, but the crowd's cheering had already started to diminish.

"Hey, Lin! You alright?" Luna asked, attempting to move closer.

"Yeah, yeah...I'm fine…." Lin groaned in response, trying her best not to wince in pain, "It's just a broken leg, I've had worse." She tried to get back to her feet, but immediately laid back down on the sandy ground, panting, her leg feeling like it had been set on fire.

The music stopped, and a pair of dragons, a pale brown MudWing and a deep blue SilkWing, both wearing white coverings, rushed into the cage with a wide stretcher. The SilkWing examined Lin's leg, the EarthWing flinching away as they unwound the chain still wrapped around her dark brown scales.

The SilkWing muttered something to the MudWing, who rose a talon toward the SandWing proprietor up above.

"Due to serious injury inflicted upon her opponent, Luna is disqualified." he said as Lin was hoisted onto the stretcher, his voice booming from the black boxes in the rafters. "Lin wins by default."

The two medics pressed a button on the side of the stretcher, causing it to levitate into the air with Lin on top. As she was carried out of the cage, Lin saw Luna standing awkwardly at its center, watching her go with a look of worry. As she crossed the fenced-in walkway she heard the hushed murmurs of the dragons in the bleachers, unsure whether or not they should be applauding.

And as she was taken back through her cell and the armory toward the on-site medical clinic, she couldn't help but feel irritated at the fact that a broken leg had ruined what likely would have been the best fight in her life.

* * *

**The Pancake House Fight Club's Medical Wing**

**Early Morning**

The medical wing of the fight club was a small, pale blue room, with three dragon sized cots lined against the back wall, and some shelves of medical supplies along the opposite. The room was bathed in a bluish-white light from long tube-like bulbs that hung from the ceiling. Lin was laying on the closest cot to the entrance, listening to Hidden argue with the proprietor about the prize money while the SilkWing doctor wrapped her leg.

"What do you mean we can't have the money?!" Hidden asked irritably, "Don't you have any cash, or coins, or something?"

The proprietor shook his head, flustered. "I'm sorry, but without an account in the Alliance Digital Banking System, we can't pay you!"

"Of _course_ it's only a crypto currency…." Hidden grumbled under his breath, as a familiar greenish-yellow SilkWing stepped into the room.

"Sorry to intrude, but I hear you're having money issues?" Luna asked. She glanced over at Hidden, who looked at her with suspicion. "Let me take the money. I can get you set up with an account and pay you back once we leave."

"Hold on." he said, "You're not trying to swindle us here, are ya?"

"If you're unable to take it, then the prize would go to me anyway moron." Luna stated. Hidden turned to the proprietor, who nodded in affirmation.

The SilkWing doctor finished wrapping Lin's leg, explaining that it should be better in the next week or two, so long as she kept off of it. Lin briefly looked back at her cast, tapping it with a claw. The wrapping seemed similar in concept to the casts she had seen in her timeline, though the materials were far different, as was the odd fluid that had been injected into her body through a tiny needle.

"Wow, two weeks?" Hidden mused, helping Lin off of the cot, "In our world it usually takes a couple months at least!"

He was interrupted by Luna clearing her throat, standing expectantly by the door. "So, do you want my help or not, because I'm taking the money either way."

Hidden turned to Lin, who nodded. "I trust her. Besides, she owes me for ruining our fight earlier." she said with a sly grin.

Luna chuckled. "Hey, don't push your luck. I could easily run out of here with the money if I felt like it."

Luna turned to the proprietor, activating the hologram device around her ear, and the SandWing did the same. The two of them stood manipulating the projections for a short while, Lin watching the light show without a clue as to what any of it meant.

"Alright, let's get outta here." Luna said, shutting off the projections. She waved to the proprietor before stepping out of the clinic, Hidden helping to support Lin behind her. They made their way through the armory, and up the steep metal stairs, Lin carefully ascending on three legs.

As they made their way across the upper walkway, they passed by some of the remaining spectators, clapping and cheering as the champion walked by. Lin would have felt more pride, had she not been relying on the support of the annoying SandWing that had been knocked out in the first round.

"I think I can take it from here." she said as they stepped outside, brushing Hidden aside, "I still have three working legs to stand on."

"Suit yourself." Hidden said, turning to Luna, "So, how exactly do you plan on helping us here?"

"I'd need to see your PDA first." she explained. Hidden squinted at her, but with a nod from Lin, he pulled the flat device out of his bag, sighing. Luna sat on the gravel path that led to the club's entrance, inspecting the device in her front talons.

"Moons, this is some low tech stuff here, are you sure this is a PDA?" she asked. Hidden nodded. "Well, I'm surprised you were even able to hook it up to the club's sound system." she continued.

"So, are you able to help us?" Hidden asked impatiently, visibly anxious at seeing another dragon holding his PDA.

Luna shook her head. "Sadly, I don't think I could help here. I'm used to PDAs like this." she explained, pointing at the small device around her ear. "_But_, I think I know someone in town who could help."

She returned the PDA to Hidden, who quickly stuffed it back into his bag. The trio walked back towards the main road of Sundew Avenue, Luna taking the lead.

"Say, you seem to know this place pretty well." Lin stated as they made their way back into the more clustered parts of the community. "Is it your hometown?"

Luna was silent, her expression briefly changing to one of remorse, before she shook her head and regained her composure. "No, it's not. I've just come through here a few times" she explained, "I'm...not the type to set down roots."

Lin could tell the topic troubled the SilkWing, and she decided it would be best not to press any further. She did, of course, have all of their money.

They turned a corner onto Swordtail Street, a circular roadway running around the central plaza and bisecting each of the radial avenues of Moss Town. Eventually, they arrived back at Blue Avenue, the familiar bright signs and spinning holograms still as flashy as ever.

"Hold on, I know this place…." Hidden remarked, as they approached a familiar building with dark wooden doors. "Moons above, it's that pawn shop! _This_ is where you were taking us?"

"What, is something wrong with it?" Luna asked, "The owner and I go a little ways back, and he's pretty good with tech."

"Nah, it's nothing." Hidden said, "We just came through here earlier looking for information. That's all." Luna nodded, and the two stepped into the shop, Hidden pausing in the doorway to address Lin.

"Hey, Lin. You coming?" he asked.

Lin shook her head, leaning against the faded brick wall. "I think I'll be fine out here."

Hidden shrugged, and stepped into the building, leaving Lin alone outside on the empty street. She took a deep breath, clearing her mind as she let the soft thrumming and buzzing of the various machines on the nearby buildings wash over her. For what felt like the first time that night, she was finally able to relax, and let all of the worries that had piled up over her in the past few hours slowly wash away.

Her moment of tranquility didn't last long, though, as soon the heavy doors swung open and Hidden and Luna came walking back onto the empty street, the SandWing holding a small metallic sphere in his talon.

"I can't believe you just blew almost _half_ of your winnings on _that_ thing." Luna exclaimed, staring at the local distortion array.

"Well _I _can't believe that questionnaire I had to fill out. 'What timeline were you born in?'? That's what we've been trying to figure out this _whole time_!" Hidden exclaimed, stuffing the sphere and his PDA into his bag.

"Honestly, I just lied on most of those questions." Luna bluntly stated, "It's not like the Grand Allies are gonna come after me."

"The who in the what now?"

"The head honchos of the Alliance."

"_Oh_."

The two turned to Lin, who had been silently watching them speaking. She stood up straight, grunting as she balanced herself on three legs. "So, what now?"

"We should probably head back to the shuttle." Hidden began, "Then we can regroup with the others in this timeline, stock up on supplies, and ask around a bit more."

The three began walking down the cobbled street, back towards the central plaza, when Luna spoke up.

"Listen, you probably won't find any useful info in a backwater timeline like this." she explained. "Your best bet would be to head deeper into Alliance territory, you'll be more likely to run into someone who knows where to go."

"_And_, which way would that be?" Hidden asked.

Luna let out an exasperated sigh. "Just...head in the direction of timeline 3027-20. It's a long trip, but you should _probably _meet someone helpful on the way there."

Hidden nodded, and looked around the street, pausing when he spotted a weapons dealer nestled in between a butcher shop and a small inn. "Hold on just a sec, I'll be right back!" he said, an excited grin on his face. He darted into the shop, leaving Lin and Luna standing in the middle of the street.

Luna smirked. "How do you put _up_ with him?" she asked.

Lin shrugged. "He's not that bad, once you've spent about a week with him, that is."

Luna chuckled, and turned to the EarthWing. She dug around in a pouch strapped around her neck, retrieving a small, black rectangular device with an even smaller button on one side, and held it out to Lin.

"Wh-what's this?" Lin asked, grabbing the device and examining it in her talons.

"It's a tracker." Luna explained, "The moment you push that button there, it'll send out a signal to let me know exactly where you are."

Lin frowned, lightly brushing the button with a claw. "And _why _would I want something like this?" she asked.

"Well, the multiverse is a big place, and how else am I supposed to find you so we can have our rematch?"

The two shared a knowing grin, and Luna began to walk away, turning back to the EarthWing one last time. "Good luck with your quest, or whatever." she said, before activating the two devices on her sides. The machines lifted her into the air, the SilkWing holding out her wings to stabilize herself, and rocketed away faster than the fastest SkyWing, disappearing into another portal.

Hidden emerged from the shop shortly thereafter, holding a staff that looked oddly similar to the one Lin had taken from Luna in the arena. He stared at the spot where Luna had been standing in confusion, and then at Lin.

"Where the moons did Luna get off to?" he asked.

"She left." Lin stated, slightly amused at Hidden's mild bewilderment.

"_Figures_." he grumbled, and he paced over to Lin, holding out the staff. "Anyway, I got ya something!"

Lin grabbed the staff, holding it in her foretalon, the other holding the tracking device in an enclosed fist. "Is this that staff I grabbed in the arena?" she asked. It certainly looked similar, and it even had a button that she assumed split it in half. The only difference was that this one lacked any sort of protective padding, instead being a bare metal pole.

"Yep! An omnistaff...apparently. You _were_ the one to win the prize money, so I thought you deserved a little something too." he said.

"How much did it cost?" Lin bluntly asked, twirling the staff into an upright position.

"Uh...20,000 scales." he said, "A bit of a steal if you ask me."

Lin sighed, and slid the staff under her foreleg. She turned to the direction of the plaza, the willow tree just barely visible between the flashy neon lights.

"We should probably head back to the shuttle now, call in the others." Hidden said, stretching out his back. His stomach grumbled, the SandWing looking at Lin in slight embarrassment. "Guess I'm a bit hungry too, what do you say to some pancakes?"

* * *

**AN:**

**I hope you enjoyed the fight, and thanks again to Pt35 for their suggestions! I'll admit that I had a little trouble writing the end of this one, and eventually scrapped an entire scene, but I think it turned out decent enough. Still not sure how school affect the release schedule, but I'll just have to see.**

**Stay tuned!**


	27. Chapter 27: The Pancake House

**Review Responses:**

**Pt35 - The scene was just Lin, Hidden and Luna talking with most of the other team members on the beach, but I felt ending it in Moss Town with just the three of them worked better. I didn't give Lin a more serious injury as well 'cause she needs to be better in a reasonably short amount of time, and a broken leg seems not too serious as to take her out of commission. This section of the story only takes place over about a month or so.**

**There is an anime/manga I really like that you might be interested in called Dr Stone. The gist is that all of humanity is turned to stone, and over 3700 years later, after all of modern civilization has practically disappeared, genius high schooler Senku Ishigami is awoken, and goes on a mission to revive everyone and bring back the modern world through the power of science. The series replaces many of the big fight scenes between two OP super dudes with battles of the mind, and much of the battle for the protagonists is going through the pain staking process of creating modern-ish technology from scratch. Don't know if you'd be into the style or over the top humor, but beyond what the show's already done, the manga has shown them making some pretty cool stuff. I could send you a PM with more spoilery details if you're interested.**

**ThunderbladeN - The conflict will pick up, but it will be a little while until then, as the story for now is mostly a fun romp across the multiverse. Honestly, I'm a little worried that it will feel a little abrupt once things get cookin' though I'm probably just over-stressing. I'd say more, but I don't want to spoil the surprise.**

* * *

**Chapter 27: The Pancake House**

* * *

**The Salvation**

**Deck 1 Halls**

**Early Afternoon**

Being a human in a world ruled by dragons had its ups and downs; something Maple, and every other kid in her village learned early on. Don't stay out too late, or you'll get lost. Don't stray too far from the village, or you're bound to get eaten. And if you see a dragon, _don't_ let it see you, and find someplace hide. Don't this, don't that. It was exhausting, and Maple knew she hadn't been the only youth in her small community to feel that way.

But unlike the rest of the kids her age, who had chosen to let fear consume their lives, and forever live under the stringent rules passed down from generation to generation, Maple had chosen to live life to the fullest, to let her curiosity, her vigor, drive her forward as she explored what little slice of the world was available to her. She stayed out late, strayed far from the village, and when she saw a dragon soar across the clouds, instead of cowering in fear, she gazed up in awe, wondering what it would be like to see the world from so high up.

Of course, this exciting lifestyle hadn't gelled very well with the rest of the villagers, fetching her a decent amount of criticism and scorn over the years. She didn't really care, after all, she was the only one in the village who could say that she had actually _touched_ a dragon and lived to tell the tale. A sleeping dragon, of course, she wasn't stupid.

Still, by the time she had reached her early twenties, and still had yet to shed the "reckless" habits of her youth, she had started to get the impression that the other villagers were ready to throw her out. They probably would have too, had it not been for the horde of dragons that swooped down upon them one day, and built a massive wall around their quaint little settlement.

On the one hand, they had probably saved her from being left to fend for herself out in the wild, but on the other, her small slice of the world had been abruptly cut off, leaving her trapped in a small circle of land with a bunch of people that hated her.

But things were different now.

Now, she didn't just have the forests and foothills around her village to explore; she had the whole world, no, a whole BUNCH of worlds to explore! Not to mention the massive golden vessel she was standing within, and the bilingual human and dragons who inhabited it!

As she walked down the _massive_ hallways of the Salvation, she couldn't help but feel excited, and _maybe_ a tiny bit terrified too. Who knew what kinds of crazy adventures awaited her out there, amidst the limitless timelines of the multiverse?

The sounds of metal clanking could be heard resonating throughout the halls. Reggie was currently playing around with his new toy in the massive central chamber, rather clumsily at that. He'd already managed to leave a sizable dent in one of the smaller ships parked there.

_Perhaps I ought to ask to give it a shot?_ she thought. She'd been just as excited as Reggie upon seeing the thing for the first time, but had politely decided to allow him to mess around with it first. He did seem to have a slightly better idea as to what exactly it was.

She continued pacing down the hallway, admiring the bright lights that hung from the ceiling, when she heard a strange noise echoing down the hall. It was nothing like the chaotic banging coming from the hangar; it sounded like music, but unlike any music she had ever heard before.

"_The story of my life. I take her home. I fly all night to keep her warm inside._"

The strange music was coming from a thick metal door a little ways further down the hall. Maple quietly walked over to it, and noticed that the door was cracked open, some sort of giant metal can about half her height having rolled in the way before it could fully close. She peeked in, noting the sterile white wall tiling and bright white lights embedded into the roof. Large dragon-sized cots lined both of the walls, with many shelves stuffed with bottles and bins of various unrecognizable items.

The sick bay, if she remembered correctly from the brief tour Reggie had given her the previous night.

On one of the cots on the right side of the room lay a black dragon covered in weird circular devices, cables draped between them. His torso and a couple of his legs were wrapped up in bandages.

_Darkstalker...right?_ she thought. The dragon did resemble the tyrannical king they had defeated the day before, almost scarily so. He seemed too preoccupied looking at a rectangular device in his talons to notice her, a split cord running from the device to both of his ears. He lay with his eyes closed, singing quietly, and rather beautifully, in Syllabic, blissfully ignorant to the human spying on him from the other side of the door.

Maple carefully climbed over the metal can, trying her best not to make a sound as she came in for a closer look. She thought back to the time she had touched a dragon, a desert dragon that had decided to take a nap in the middle of the forest. It's pale yellow scales had shone brightly in the afternoon sunlight, so enticing that Maple couldn't resist getting a closer look.

She'd made it without alerting the sand dragon then, so naturally she'd be able to sneak up on _this _dragon without getting spotted.

As she drew closer, she was able to make out the rectangular device more clearly. Stuck to the back of it was a small picture of some kind of dome shaped vehicle with two wheels, a picture she thought she had seen on a similar sized device that the sky dragon Ricky had been using. She wondered for a second why this dragon would have Ricky's...whatever it was, when the singing suddenly stopped.

Maple slowly looked up to see Darkstalker staring down at her, simultaneously appearing surprised, angry, and embarrassed. She meekly waved at him, only to be met by a barrage of angry growls, roars, and other grumblings in Draconic. She quickly turned tail and ran, nearly slipping on the smooth white tiled floor as she fled the sick bay.

While she couldn't understand a word Darkstalker was shouting, it didn't take a genius to know that she wasn't wanted there.

She leapt over the metal can, her left foot accidentally kicking it loose and causing the door to slam shut behind her. She stood in the hall, hunched over with her hands on her knees, catching her breath.

_Well. That was...exhilarating…._

She looked around, the sounds of banging metal still resonating throughout the ship, and strode back down the hall toward one of the archways leading to the hangar. She walked past a giant rectangular pair of metal doors, a smaller pair right next to them. Pieces of paper had been stuck to the wall next to them with strips of some kind of shiny clear paper, and while she couldn't read the Draconic written on them, she remembered Reggie telling her that these were called "elevators".

She turned right and stepped into the hangar, briefly gazing up at the ceiling so high above, it almost looked like a metal sky. Even after spending the night in the ship, she still couldn't get enough of its many wonders.

"Hey, Reggie!" she shouted, turning her attention to a metal dragon standing at the center of the chamber. It stood tall on its hind legs, rearing up to kick with one of them, when it turned its head in her direction, and promptly fell over on its metal backside with a resounding thud.

Maple winced, watching the Reggie-tron slowly clamber back up onto all fours, laying down on the ground as its chest cavity opened. Reggie waved at her from inside the mech, grinning.

"Hey Maple! Wazzup?"

"Nothing really." she began, "Just wondering if I could give that thing a try."

"Oh, yeah sure! I was just practicing my mecha combat skills, you know? Like, WHAM! KAPOW!" he replied, punching at the air.

"Looked more like a _kersplat _to me." Maple said with a cheeky grin. Reggie chuckled, scratching the messy tuft of black hair on his head. He hopped out of the machine's cockpit, stepping aside as Maple pulled herself up into it.

"It does take a lot of getting used to." he explained. "I saw mechs on TV all the time, but it's _nothing_ compared to actually piloting one. Still pretty friggin' awesome though!"

"It better be!" she said, feeling herself well up in anticipation as the cockpit closed in front of her. The chest sealed with a hiss, and shortly thereafter a large image of the hangar appeared before her. Its perspective was slightly higher than what she had seen from the cockpit, and Maple guessed that this is what the Reggie-tron was seeing with its "eyes".

"Hey, Maple! Can you hear me?" she heard Reggie shout, although she wasn't quite sure how, considering she was completely surrounded by metal.

"Y-Yeah. I can hear ya." she replied.

"Good. Now, there should be a blinking red button in there." Reggie shouted.

Maple looked around the cramped cockpit, and noticed a button matching Reggie's description on one of the armrests of her surprisingly comfortable seat. She pressed it, and the arm rests were abruptly retracted, two odd gauntlet looking devices popping out in their place. She stared at them curiously, and instinctively slipped her hands into them.

"Found it." she said.

"Alright, now there should be a couple glove lookin' things there. You need to _carefully_…."

Maple pulled her arms upward, and was immediately thrown forward in her seat as the Reggie-tron reared up onto its hind legs, nearly falling onto its back once again. She quickly swung her arms back down, and the Reggie-tron brought its front talons down upon the metal floor of the hanger with a massive bang.

"_Carefully_ put your hands in." Reggie finished.

A sizable dent now resided in the spot where the Reggie-tron's talons had been brought down. Maple chuckled, remembering when Reggie had nearly punched a hole in the wall of the storage locker after first stepping into the thing.

"Okay." she said, "What's next?"

She spent the next hour or two listening to Reggie explain to her the different hand movements she could use to pilot the mech, and attempting to the best of her effort to replicate them. Though, it seemed that even if she executed the motions perfectly, the mech would still falter, something she attributed to her teacher barely being able to land a kick with the thing without stumbling.

At the very least, Reggie _did _seem quite knowledgeable in getting the Reggie-tron up off of the ground.

As she practiced, Reggie would also interject with words in draconic, sometimes even saying some of his instructions in strings of growls and grumbles. Maple tried her best to translate, though she had to admit that the multitasking was making the situation far more tedious.

Still, she eventually started to get the hang of it, even managing to walk the metal dragon across the hangar and back again on its hind legs, though their session was ended prematurely by the arrival of a blue and purple rainforest dragon.

"Oh, hey Xavier!" Reggie said, as Maple lowered the Reggie-tron into a resting position. She slipped her hands out of the gauntlets and pressed the blinking red button once again, causing the gauntlets to retract and the mech's chest to open.

"Just wanted to let you know that we'll be heading out soon, Hidden's apparently found a safe timeline to set down in." Xavier explained.

He turned to walk back to the bridge, as Maple stepped up next to Reggie. "Last chance." Reggie said, turning to her with a knowing grin.

"For what?" she asked.

"To hop off. Once we're gone, you may never see this place again."

Maple smirked. "Yeah? Well good riddance!" Maple exclaimed, "This world probably doesn't have _half_ as much cool stuff as I've seen in here!"

Reggie smiled back, and the two watched Xavier step out of the hangar.

"Oh, one more thing!" the rainforest dragon said, sticking his head back through the archway. "How do you two feel about pancakes?"

* * *

**Moss Town**

**The Pancake House**

**Early Morning**

The sun had only just begun to grace the barren plains of the Pantalan continent with its warm rays, yet the Pancake house was already bustling with activity. Dragons chattered around a large counter that surrounded a corner of the building, the shiny kitchen clearly visible behind it. Music played from a large machine rimmed with neon lights near the entrance. Almost half of the tables were taken up by dragons eagerly chowing down or bantering in their guttural language.

Maple took it all in, the sights, the sounds, the _smells!_ It was all too much for her brain to handle at once, and at the same time not nearly enough! She could already feel herself salivating at the thought of the meal to come.

She and Reggie had been seated at one of the human sized tables, secluded on a slightly raised wooden deck out of the way of the main walkways. The only other human there besides them was an old man who had been silently staring at his half eaten pancakes since they'd arrived. Maple was _pretty _sure that he was dead.

"So, this is the multiverse?" she asked, staring up at the pale wooden walls that were covered in incredibly detailed pictures of the owner at various fantastical locations.

Reggie shrugged. "It's the first other timeline with advanced tech I've been to. Apparently Hidden and Xavier visited another one, though."

Hidden and Xavier, as well as Ricky and Lin, were all seated together at a table not far from the platform, chatting with each other in draconic. Maple couldn't make out most of what they were saying, but she guessed that they were talking about Hidden and Lin's little adventure earlier that night, and the injury Lin had incurred in a fight against someone named "Luna".

The swamp dragon, or _EarthWing_ as they called her, had one of her hind legs wrapped up in white cloth. Apparently, she'd been injured in a weekly fighting tournament held beneath The Pancake House, and had won by default.

The multiverse was just full of surprises.

Suddenly, a large metal ball emerged from the kitchen, a single large red eye taking up much of its front side. It glided towards them along ceiling-mounted rails that it clung to from a metal pole, swinging around to stop next to Hidden and co's table, and extending its pole to meet them at eye level.

Maple leaned back in her seat, watching apprehensively as the metal ball spoke to the four dragons in draconic, projecting images onto thin air with its eye. Something about it rubbed her the wrong way, but Reggie seemed to think it was great.

"Hey look at that! Robotic waiters!" he exclaimed, turning to face her while pointing a thumb back at the machine.  
"Robotic _what?_" Maple asked, but before Reggie could answer, the machine finished speaking with the dragons, and to her horror glided over to their table next. It dropped down right next to them, its metal body nearly as tall as she was, its giant red eye staring at them emotionlessly.

"HELLO! WELCOME TO THE PANCAKE HOUSE! HOW MAY WE SERVE YOU TODAY!" it said in a synthetic friendly tone which only served to creep Maple out even more.

"Whadaya got?" Reggie asked casually, grinning from ear to ear.

The "waiter" projected a series of images from its eye, slightly startling Maple, and Reggie spent a moment looking between the various dining options on display. He reached out to touch one of the images, which quickly transformed into a three dimensional projection of the food item in question, a list of information about what was in it appearing to the side.

"I...think I'll have the number four." Reggie said, nodding to the machine.

"CERTAINLY." the machine said. It abruptly turned to face Maple, causing her to scoot her chair back a bit as it stared at her with its giant red eye. "AND WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE THIS MORNING?"

"I-I...I uh…." Maple stuttered, unable to think of an answer under the thing's intense stare. "Wh...what do you think?"

Maple thought she could hear Reggie sighing at her remark, though the robot didn't seem at all phased.

"WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY THE FIGHT NIGHT SPECIAL? IT IS ONLY AVAILABLE ON FRIDAYS AND SATURDAYS!" The machine continued. Maple silently nodded, unable to think of a response.

"YOUR FOOD WILL BE READY SHORTLY!" the thing finished, and to Maple's relief it rose back up to the ceiling and glided back to the kitchen where it came from. She let out a loud sigh, Reggie looking at her with an amused grin.

"What was all that about?" he asked, "It was just a robot, like the Reggie-tron."

"That..._thing_ was _nothing_ like the Reggie-tron." Maple replied. "It was weird, and it seemed alive, but..._not_. And it's eye! It felt like it was staring into my _soul!_"

Reggie chuckled, and turned towards the kitchen, where the desert dragon who owned the place was busily working amongst the silvery appliances. "I guess we'll have to see what this 'Fight Night Special' is then, won't we?" he remarked.

Maple nodded, and turned to look back up at the many pictures covering the walls. The locations depicted in them were so varied and unique, from _massive_ gorges carved into layers of brown and red rock, to jungles filled with plants unlike anything she'd ever seen, to...wait, was that the surface of one of the _moons?!_

"I wonder what timeline we'll be going to next?" she asked, captivated by the wondrous pictures. Everything she had seen so far since she had joined the team (minus the creepy waiter-bot) had been more and more exciting.

"You could come along on the next advanced team." Reggie offered.

Maple was about to respond, when a large platter carrying two plates of food swung out of the kitchen, dropping down right next to them. A robotic arm extended from the shaft holding it to the rails, grabbing plates, glasses, and silverware and placing them down in front of the two.

"ENJOY!" it said in the same synthetic voice as the "waiter", before rising back up to the ceiling and gliding off to the kitchen.

Atop Reggie's plate were a couple of the flat circular pieces of bread called "pancakes", as well as some fluffy yellow stuff that was supposed to be eggs that had been scrambled. A glass of clear orange juice that apparently came from apples was set next to it, though it wasn't Reggie's breakfast that had captured the two's attention.

"Holy moons Maple, that's a lotta pancake!" Reggie exclaimed.

Maple could only stare down at her food in utter silence. Atop her plate were three _massive _pancakes, so big they were hanging over the edges of the dish. Sticky brown syrup was drenched atop each of them, pooling over onto the table, and a massive glob of butter was heaped on top. To the side was a single glass of milk, dwarfed by the monstrous mountain of a meal.

"I...uh...don't know where to start!" Maple said, still stunned at the sheer _size_ of her meal. She picked up a metal fork near the plate, and cut off a small chunk of one of the pancakes. She held it up to her face, briefly smelling the sweet aroma of the syrup, before slipping it into her mouth.

To put the taste of the Fight Night Special to words would be a disservice to its splendor in every way imaginable, especially for someone who had only ever dined on hastily prepared animal meat and raw fruits and vegetables. For a moment, Maple forgot the world around her, the fluffy pancake bread melting in her mouth as it melded with the sweet maple syrup. She swallowed the bite, and immediately shoveled two more down her throat.

"So, uh, what do you say?" Reggie asked, snapping Maple out of her delicious trance. She took a moment to remember what Reggie had offered earlier, about the advanced team, and nodded, too consumed with consuming her meal to give a more in depth answer.

"Yeah...sure…." she said through a full mouth.

Reggie grinned, and turned to face the four dragons sitting near them, who were still waiting for their food.

"Hey, Maple and I are coming on the next advanced team, that alright?" he shouted, attracting the attention of a few of the strangers seated nearby.

"Sure, you'll be joining me and Ricky." Xavier said, "Hidden'll stay behind on the Salvation with Lin and Dark."

"Hold on, I never agreed to this." Hidden remarked.

"Yeah, well the rest of us did, so deal with it." Xavier said with a sly grin.

Reggie turned back to Maple, and she saw his jaw drop. "M-Maple…?" he stuttered.

"Yeah, what?" Maple asked.

"Wh-where in Pyrrhia did your pancakes go?!"

Maple looked down at her plate, and sure enough all that was left was the sticky brown residue of maple syrup. "Huh." she said, "Guess I already ate 'em all."

Reggie stared at her in a shocked silence for a moment, Maple snickering at his dumbstruck expression.

"You are _terrifying_." he said.

"_DRAGONS! THEY'RE COMING!_"

Maple froze, brief flashbacks of the dragon's invasion of her village flashing before her eyes. A chortle from Reggie was enough to snap her out of it, as she turned and saw the old man looking around frantically, like he'd just been plopped down in his seat without any explanation. He eventually spotted his plate of food, and continued eating as if nothing had happened.

Maple and Reggie briefly chuckled, before transitioning into a conversation about what kind of worlds they could visit next as Reggie finished his meal.

* * *

**AN:**

**The first half of this chapter came pretty naturally to me, and I think it contains some of the best writing in this story yet, though the second half was pretty tough to write. I decided to leave out any bits of Maple and Reggie exploring Moss Town, as it would be pretty redundant and pointless, and they'll be exploring a different town together later. Trying to find ways to put scene description in with good character dialogue and also convey all the info I need to get across (which is a lot) while also keeping good pacing and flow is really difficult, though what's new?**

**The Pancake House is supposed to be like an IHOP but with a futuristic table waiting service straight outta Portal 2.**

**This chapter was a pretty light-hearted one, and the coming ones will be as well. There probably won't be any substantial conflicts until a bit later on, but trust me when I say they are gonna be **_**substantial**_**.**


	28. Chapter 28: First Contact

**Review Responses:**

**UnidentifiedWhistlingObject - I'm glad you liked the music! That seems to be pretty hit or miss for some people.**

* * *

**Chapter 28: First Contact**

* * *

**Shuttle 4**

Maple leaned against the cold metal wall of the shuttle, Reggie standing right next to her. She could hardly contain the excitement that had been bubbling up inside of her since they had set off to explore the great unknown. Reggie seemed excited too, though, to a noticeably lesser extent; partially due to him having done this for a bit longer than her, and partially because he hadn't been allowed to bring the Reggie-tron due to his...lack of expertise in operating it.

Xavier and Ricky both sat in the cockpit, Xavier tapping away on a device that looked like a large tablet bent in half, upbeat music playing from his smaller tablet device that Maple now knew was called a _PDA_. A strange name to be sure, but after hearing about all the crazy things one could do, she kinda wanted one for herself.

She sighed, and began pacing about the shuttle's main chamber, impatiently waiting for them to arrive at the next timeline. The walls towered above her, a switch near the rear wall of the room far too high for her to reach. The shuttle had very clearly been designed for dragons, and not tiny humans like herself.

"We're almost there guys, you ready?" she heard Ricky ask from the cockpit. The mountain dragon, or _SkyWing_ (Reggie had been teaching her the names of all the different species of dragons) peeked back at the humans through the rectangular doorway leading to the front of the ship.

Reggie gave him a quick thumbs up, and the SkyWing turned his focus back to the task at hand, gripping a U-shaped doohickey as the shuttle burst out of the swirling blue vortex.

"So Rick, where in the world are we anyway? If we're even still on Earth, that is." Reggie asked.

"From the looks of it, we're just above Possibility!" the SkyWing said jovially. Xavier slammed his tablet device shut and stared out of the window, a skeptical, but hopeful look on his face.

"Wait, I need to see this!" Reggie said, rushing over to the cockpit. Maple followed after him, vaguely remembering that he lived in a town that went by that name. Ricky extended a talon down to the two, and lifted them up on top of the control panel.

"_Holy flying fire snakes!_" Maple exclaimed, pressing her face up against the glass of the cockpit as she stared out at the world spread out beneath her. Vast sandy deserts stretched off to her left, gradually transitioning into dry plains that spread out to the right, trees dotting the horizon. The sun glimmered in the sky, it's morning rays bathing the landscape in a golden glow.

_Is this what it's like for dragons?_ she thought giddily. She could hardly take it all in at once, though her eyes eventually settled upon a tight cluster of buildings straight ahead of them.

"That's Possibility?" she heard Reggie ask, "Where's all the humongous skyscrapers?"

Maple didn't exactly understand what Reggie was talking about, though there was something odd about the city. The buildings looked far more advanced than anything from her own timeline, and a little more fancy than the ones in Moss Town, based on what little she'd seen of it from a couple supply runs she'd tagged along with.

The strange part, though, was their size. The buildings seemed _way_ too small for dragons, even the largest of them. In fact, there didn't seem to be a single dragon in sight!

Suddenly, she spotted something rising up from one of the flat rooftops. At first, she thought it was a dragon, but as it neared, she realized that it had a round, metallic body, with a long thin tail, and a pair of rapidly spinning blades on the top that seemed to be lifting it into the air. It veered towards them, stopping a distance away and hovering in place.

"Uh, should we go down and say hi?" Ricky asked.

Xavier shrugged. "I don't know what else we should do? Might as well try and make a good first impression."

The SkyWing nodded, and pushed the doohickey forward, veering the shuttle down towards the city. Maple and Reggie had to stabilize themselves, nearly slipping off of the control panel as the craft rapidly descended.

As they grew closer, Maple suddenly realized that there were, in fact, no dragons in the city at all. Instead, it seemed to be entirely inhabited by humans. _Hundreds_ of humans. Maple didn't know if she'd ever seen so many people in her life, all gathered together in a single settlement no less!

The shuttle slowly hovered over the city, the streets full of small vehicles resembling the one on the PDA Darkstalker had been listening to, all stopping in place as the ship passed overhead. People on the streets looked up at them, some quickly running away while others stood still, holding out little PDAs towards the craft.

"What _is_ this place?" Reggie asked, staring down at the tall, narrow buildings below. "It looks a lot like home but...where are the dragons?"

Maple was speechless. She had _not_ been expecting something like _this_, though, she was starting to think that she should expect the unexpected.

"Looks like a good spot to land over there." Xavier said, pointing out at a wide grassy field in the middle of the city. Trees dotted the small slice of lush landscape, a narrow artificial river running in a squiggly loop through it.

Ricky angled the shuttle down towards an open patch of grass with a bunch of white rectangles drawn onto it. A few nearby pedestrians ran away in terror as the shuttle touched down, it's engines letting out a soft hiss as they powered down.

"Here's hoping the locals are friendly." Xavier mumbled, turning towards the back of the shuttle. He pulled the lever on the back wall, the large ramp slowly lowering down to the grassy earth below. Ricky helped Maple and Reggie off of the control panel, and the three of them stepped up next to the RainWing. White steam burst from the door mechanisms, temporarily clouding the air in front of them as the four walked down the ramp.

"Hidden's gonna have to fix that later…." Xavier grumbled, waving a talon to part the cloud of steam.

As they set foot on the grassy field, they found themselves surrounded by hundreds of humans, some watching the newcomers fearfully while others leaned forward, holding out their PDAs. A few humans dressed in fancy black vests attempted to keep the crowd at bay, but even they didn't seem too sure about what was going on.

Maple felt a cold sweat seep down her back as hundreds of pairs of eyes peered at her. The sun beat down relentlessly, and she felt almost ready to pass out. She faintly heard Ricky whispering something to Xavier in draconic, Xavier responding with nothing more than a shrug. The SkyWing sighed, and took a hesitant step forward, causing the gathered crowd ahead of them to back away fearfully.

"We uh...we..._come in peace?_" he said in syllabic. Maple heard Reggie snickering, though she wasn't sure why.

An awkward silence hung in the air, only broken by the booming noise of whirling machinery above. Three large vehicles, similar to the one they had seen flying above the city earlier, descended upon the field, hovering just above them. Humans dressed in body armor the color of desert sand hung out of the open sides of the flying machines, pointing long black guns at them (at least, that's what Maple assumed they were, based on how Reggie had described the deadly devices to her).

Suddenly, the crowd ahead of them began to part as two large armored vehicles, similar in color to the armor worn by the gun toting humans, and each nearly as large as a dragon, rolled through the sea of people. Long tubes hung out from the front of the bulky machines, and while Maple wasn't exactly sure what they were for, they certainly couldn't be anything good.

The black vested humans controlling the crowd had been replaced by more of the sandy colored ones, guns held at the ready as they formed a perimeter around the shuttle. Some of them began erecting hasty barricades to keep the onlookers out, though that didn't stop some of them from leaning out as far as they could with their PDAs.

"Reggie?" Maple asked, "Who _are_ these guys?"

"Probably the government." he stated, looking more amused than worried. "They show up in almost every alien movie to try and capture the aliens."

Maple still wasn't exactly sure she understood what he meant by "movies", though she'd gotten the memo nonetheless. "And I assume _we're_ the aliens?" she asked.

"Yeah, cool huh?"

One of the flying vehicles began descending towards the field, its rapidly spinning blades whipping up a small flurry of grass and dust. The intense whirring from the machine began to fade as its blades slowed to a stop, a short, stocky human hopping out of the side as they did. He wore a fancy uniform that was the same color as the body armor worn by the other "government" people, a collection of colorful badges adorning his chest. A pair of glasses covered his eyes, the lenses so dark Maple wondered how he could even see out of them.

"Well, you're certainly an interesting bunch." the man said once the blades had stopped spinning, "Now why don't you do me the favor of telling me who you are, and why the blazin' moons you decided to invade my city."

"W-We're not here to cause any trouble." Ricky began, taking a step towards the man. The soldiers around him immediately raised their weapons, causing the SkyWing to step back.

"I'll be the judge of that." the man stated in a casual, yet commanding tone. He looked over to Reggie, and then to Maple, causing her to tense up beneath his hardened gaze. "You can tell us all about it at the compound."

The soldiers surrounding them simultaneously raised their weapons, slowly closing in. Xavier let out a low growl, and for a second Maple wondered if he was going to retaliate.

He took a step forward. "Now listen here just a min…."

_BANG!_

A burst of flame erupted from one of the heavily armored vehicle's tubes, some sort of projectile flying out at high speed, narrowly missing Xavier and crashing into the field behind the shuttle, a massive explosion erupting from the point of impact.

In moments, the entire scene had descended into utter chaos.

The section of the crowd nearest to the explosion immediately began to scatter, sending a ripple effect throughout the area as people scrambled to get away. A cacophony of loud bangs began erupting from the soldiers guns, tiny projectiles whizzing through the air towards the two dragons.

Maple immediately dropped to the ground, clutching her ears tightly as the banging rattled inside her head. She briefly glanced towards where the dragons had been standing, the two having already sprung into the air in a hasty escape. Specs of blood were trailing after Xavier, and there seemed to be some sort of glowing shield emanating from one of Ricky's forelegs.

She turned her attention back to the front line of soldiers, the man with the dark glasses hopping back into the flying machine as it prepared for takeoff, Reggie sprinting after him.

"Reggie!" she shouted, slowly getting to her feet and running after him. The tumultuous crowd was starting to break up the soldier's line, a few daring onlookers attempting to run in to get a closer look.

Reggie had begun to near the flying machine, which was already lifting up off of the ground, when two of the soldiers tackled him, pinning him to the ground. Before Maple could get any closer, she was caught up in the seething tide of bystanders, quickly losing sight of him and the shuttle as she was dragged deeper into the frenzy.

* * *

**AN:**

**Bit of a shorter chapter this week, trying to ease the workload while I get back into school. I hope you're enjoying Maple's PoV, it's been a bit of a challenge describing technology as she would see it, instead of being able to use words like "helicopter" and "tank". I have most of this episode thought out, though there are a few kinks in the plot that I need to iron out. Next chapter is pretty much figured out though.**

**Stay tuned!**


	29. Chapter 29: Dragons Among Us

**Review Responses:**

**Pt35 - The troops here are supposed to have armaments roughly equivalent with current American military tech, though I know little to nothing about real life military tech, so it probably won't be highlighted in too much detail. I'm more of a sci-fi/fantasy guy myself, and this is probably one of the few times modern weaponry will be seen in this story, as the interconnected timelines tend to run mainly on advanced sci-fi technology; plasma weapons, spaceships, ect. That said, your thoughts on more primitive tech being able to outmatch advanced stuff has given me the idea of putting some of the characters into a situation where they're up against forces with futuristic armaments without any of their own, and have to make some makeshift gear from scratch and use their intellect and wits to outsmart their foes. Just another interesting idea to potentially explore later on.**

**Earthpatriot117 - This was meant to be a parody of alien and monster movies, though it will probably wind up spinning off into its own thing after a bit.**

* * *

**Chapter 29: Dragons Among Us**

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**Possibility**

**Late Morning**

The city of Possibility was bustling with activity, hundreds of people milling about the walkways that ran alongside the towering buildings. The streets were crowded with the four wheeled vehicles, honking and thrumming as they waited in massive lines around wide crossroads. Giant screens hanging off of the sides of buildings displayed brightly colored advertisements that battled for one's attention.

It was a magnificent sight to behold, yet it wasn't enough to distract Maple from the issue at hand. How could it be? Everywhere she went, she could hear hushed murmurs about the "alien spaceship" that had landed in the park, about the dragons that had come out of it, and the humans that had been with them.

When they weren't talking, they were staring at the screens of their PDAs, watching recordings of the landing or furiously tapping messages into the devices to send to others. Fortunately, most people seemed far too preoccupied with this to pay her any mind.

She passed an electronics store, a large assortment of screens on display on the other side of a wide floor to ceiling window. Each and every one of them was depicting some kind of a report on the events of that morning, a man and a woman sitting behind a large desk talking about it as footage played behind them.

Maple flinched back when she saw a picture of her and Reggie's faces. She'd managed to snag a discarded hooded coat from an alley shortly after escaping the tidal wave of people. It was slightly torn, and smelled like feet, but hopefully it would be enough to hide her identity from any cursory glances.

She continued walking down the street, staring down at the ground so as to keep her face relatively hidden. She wanted so badly to look around at the world around her, to run into every little shop and admire the wares inside (something she hadn't been able to do in the mostly dragon sized streets of Moss Town). But she held herself back, knowing very well what would happen if she was found out.

She sighed, taking a brief moment to stare up at the sky. The towering buildings stretched out above her, covering much of the blue expanse with their shiny glass exteriors. Sunbeams bounced off of the towers, casting glimmering trails along the hundreds of windows.

_Alright, what's the plan?_ she thought, staring back down at the ground. _Reggie's likely been captured by those soldier guys, Xavier and Ricky seemed to have gotten away._ She thought back to the droplets of blood she had seen flying off of the RainWing. _I hope he's alright…._

Suddenly, she felt herself collide with another person, causing the PDA they had been looking at to slip out of their hands. They fumbled around for a bit, the device bouncing just out of their grasp until they finally managed to catch it. The person sighed with relief, turning to face Maple.

"Sorry 'bout that." they said, scratching the back of their head.

Maple stood still, wondering if she should split. They seemed nice enough, a boy somewhere in their mid teens, with brown skin and a scraggly tuft of yellowish brown hair. They had a small scar across their nose, and a golden hoop earring on one ear.

"Maybe you shouldn't be staring at your PDA while you're walking." Maple bluntly stated, slowly taking a step back.

The boy stared at her for a moment, confused. "_You_...mean my smartphone?'

"Hey, Qibli! What's wrong?" someone asked. Another person, a teenage girl with dark skin and long dark hair with two streaks of white running down the sides stepped out of the shop the boy had emerged from, turning to face Maple as well.

_Qibli? Where have I heard that name before?_

"Hold on, isn't that the woman from the spaceship?" the girl asked, pointing at her. Maple didn't have time to hear Qibli's response, as she had already bolted back down the street, turning down a nearby alleyway.

_Gah! You should've walked away while you had the chance!_ she thought, hearing the sound of footsteps running after her. _Not like I could've lied my way out of it, just gotta hope they're not as agile as I am._

She hopped up on top of a large metal can, pulling herself up over a metal wire fence and landing down on the other side onto a pile of flattened brown boxes that crunched under her feet. She turned back briefly to see if her pursuer had given up, only to see Qibli effortlessly hoisting himself up over the fence after her.

"Hold on! We're not gonna…."

Maple didn't let him finish, bolting down the alleyway towards the street on the other side. She tossed down some more cans and a few square wooden platform things, hoping to block off the pathway as she stepped out into the next street over. A few pedestrians gave her curious glances, but they were otherwise glued to their devices.

She heard Qibli climbing over the mess she had made, and spotted a large government four wheeled vehicle parked just to her left. The rear portion of it was covered with a pale sand colored tarp, crates of supplies stored underneath. She didn't have time to hesitate, quickly sliding under the tarp amongst the many crates.

There wasn't much room in the back of the vehicle to move around, and Maple found herself in a slightly awkward position, her elbow rubbing against a hard wooden crate while her legs were squeezed beneath her, her knees jabbing into her stomach. Still, she didn't dare budge. Qibli was likely looking for her just nearby, and any sudden movements could give herself away.

Sweat beaded along Maple's forehead, the heat of the desert sun amplified beneath the tarp. She didn't know how much longer she'd have to hide under there, not to mention whether or not someone would spot her slipping out.

_Maybe I shouldn't have run away. _Maple wondered, slowly wiping the sweat from her forehead with her one free arm. _They seemed nice, maybe they would have helped me?_

She glanced around the cramped trunk, the soft glow of sunlight filtering in under the tarp. In hindsight, she probably should have risked finding a better hiding spot than a vehicle likely owned by the very people she was trying to avoid.

"So, what do ya think the aliens came here for anyway?" a male voice asked from outside the tarp. Maple frose, the opening and closing of the vehicle's doors sending vibrations beneath her legs.

"I dunno, but they sure did choose the wrong city to invade!" a female voice replied. Maple heard the two speakers burst into laughter, the sound of a key turning causing the entire vehicle to vibrate and hum.

"We'd better high tail it back to base, the General won't be happy if we're late." the male voice stated. The vehicle suddenly lurched forward, causing Maple to bang her elbow on one of the crates as she was flung back. She gritted her teeth, silently rubbing the sore joint as she shifted around into a slightly more comfortable position.

"You're one to talk! Remind me whose fault it was we didn't get to see the aliens before everything went nuts."

"Heh heh...well uh…ya hear about those two humans that were with 'em!" the male voice sheepishly replied, attempting to change the subject.

"Hm, my guess is they were abducted. Probably probed to high heaven by those ugly lizards." the female voice bluntly responded.

Maple frowned. Ugly was the _last_ word she'd use to describe dragons.

She sighed, and sat silently in the back of the vehicle as it drove along the black paved streets of the city. Occasionally, she would peek out from under the tarp, watching the world zip by as they made their way out of the city and into the desert beyond. The sun was starting to beat down even harder, and Maple was starting to regret her hasty thinking back in the city.

_Hey, who knows?_ she thought, _Maybe these guys will take me to where they've taken Reggie._

She peeked out of the tarp once more, watching the sparse plant life make way for the endless dunes of the desert, when a massive bang caught her off guard. The vehicle ground to a halt, the doors swinging open as the drivers stepped out. Maple saw them look up at the sky, audibly gasping, and glanced towards where they were looking.

There, hovering above Possibility, was the Salvation, its golden hull gleaming like a second sun.

* * *

**?**

Reggie awoke to the sound of muffled shouting. He groggily sat up in his chair, squinting as he examined his surroundings. He was in a small, metal room, a single metal table at its center with two metal chairs on either side, one of which he was seated in. A bright electric lamp hung overhead, casting a blinding white light throughout the room.

His head was killing him, and he attempted to raise a hand to it, only to realize that he was cuffed to his chair. He turned to his left, noticing a large opaque piece of glass taking up much of that wall. A one way window, likely; this place was giving off serious interrogation room vibes.

Two muffled voices were shouting back and forth behind the opaque window, locked in a heated debate.

"You were out of line! You should have contacted me first before marching in like that." one of them said in a deep, commanding tone.

"And let those beasts roam free about the city? I took decisive action, and had I not we could be in a lot more trouble than we are now!" the other voice snapped back. Reggie quickly recognized it as the man with the sunglasses from the park.

"_Or_, we could be in peaceful negotiations with them! There was no evidence that they were hostile!"

"And there was no evidence that they were friendly either!"

"One of them _literally_ said 'we come in peace'!"

'Hey...uh...I can hear you, you know!" Reggie said. He wasn't sure how loudly he'd spoken, whatever had knocked him out still seemed to be working its way through his system, but the two men stopped bickering nonetheless.

A door at the back of the room swung open, and the two men walked in. Reggie instantly recognized one as the man from the park, a scowl drawn on his round face. The other, a tall, brown skinned man, seemed to be some sort of superior to him, with far more badges decorating his chest and a golden scorpion insignia on his hat. Strangely, the man seemed to have six fingers on each hand. Reggie blinked, assuming it was from whatever drugs they had pumped him with, but they were still there.

"So, you're finally awake, are you? You gonna talk or what?" the man with the sunglasses said with a frown. Reggie wasn't sure why he was still wearing the dark glasses indoors, though the light above them _was_ pretty bright.

The six fingered man brought one of his abnormal hands up to his face, sighing, before turning to Reggie with a sympathetic expression. "Sorry about my subordinate, he tends to...jump the gun." he said, eliciting a glare from the man with the sunglasses, "I hope you weren't hurt in the commotion back there."

"It's not me you were shooting at." Reggie replied, the fatigue having now mostly dissipated.

"Listen here, this isn't the time for snark, got it?" the man with the sunglasses commanded, slamming his hands down upon the metal table and causing Reggie to flinch back. "Now you're going to tell us what in high moons those things were, why they're here, and how to…."

"Colonel, enough!" the six fingered man commanded. The man with the sunglasses backed off, glaring at Reggie.

"L-Look, we're not here to cause any trouble, alright?" Reggie started, leaning back under the colonel's imposing glare. "We...we're from another uh...another timeline, you see. And we're just trying to find our way…."

"Another timeline? Do you really believe this wingnut?" the man with the sunglasses asked, turning to the six fingered man.

The six fingered man shrugged. "Two dragons and two humans just popped out of a portal above Possibility in a spaceship, anything's possible."

The colonel grunted, turning back to Reggie. Beads of sweat were starting to build up on his forehead and under his arms, and the colonel seemed to have noticed, grinning slightly.

Suddenly, a younger man, somewhere around Reggie's age and dressed in an undecorated uniform burst into the room, panting. He turned briefly to Reggie, and then two the two military officers.

"I...it's crazy! There's a..._huff_...there's a…." he wheezed, hands on his knees.

"Well, out with it!" the man with the sunglasses chided.

"There's this _huge_ golden spaceship that just appeared over the city! Everyone's freaking out!" they blurted out, fear and excitement in their eyes.

_The Salvation? What's it doing here?_ Reggie thought, _Not that I'm complaining._

The man with the sunglasses paused for a moment, before quickly barking out orders to the young man. "I want all my troops out on patrol to head east and hunt down those…."

"Now hold on, who exactly is in charge here again?" the six fingered man asked, holding the colonel back.

"Listen to me! If we capture those two lizards that got away, we could use them as leverage to keep the others from trying anything funny!"

"Or, we could make ourselves prime targets. Do you _ever_ think these plans of your's through, or do you let your pride get the better of you?"

"This has _nothing_ to do with pride, Sixclaws. Would _you _rather have those two creatures freely running about?"

"That's _General_ Sixclaws to you. Remember, you're only here because you jumped the gun."

"Excuse me. I-I think I could help." Reggie meekly stated. The three military men turned to him, causing him to lean back under their collective gaze. "I-I think I have a bit of an idea as to how to pilot that shuttle, from looking at the manual we got a while back. Well, it wasn't _really_ a manual, more like a…."

"You can pilot the shuttle?" General Sixclaws asked skeptically.

"_No_, everything's dragon sized." Reggie replied, "But with enough people working together, we _might _be able to get it into the air, fly up there and smooth things over."

"Ha! You really expect that to work?" the colonel laughed, "Listen, with my troops, we can capture those escaped lizards, and then have _them_ pilot the shuttle."

"That still doesn't solve the problem of making ourselves a target." General Sixclaws replied.

"We're already a target now that we've got that ship of theirs!"

General Sixclaws groaned, turning to the floor to think for a moment, before turning back to his subordinate. "You have four hours." he stated begrudgingly.

The colonel grinned triumphantly, the bright electric light above gleaming off of his shades. He started to make his way to the door, when his superior addressed him one final time.

"Capture, don't kill." he said, sternly.

"Yeah, yeah…." the colonel said, walking out of the room with the younger man.

The General turned to Reggie, calmly sitting down across from him. "So." he began, "I'll get a small team together, and we can begin working out how to pilot that shuttle, right?"

"Wait...but didn't you just…?" Reggie asked, turning back to the doorway.

"I know what I did, and odds are he ain't coming back with squat."

Reggie paused, trying to work out what exactly had motivated him to send his impulsive subordinate out on a wild goose chase in such a pressing situation. Not that he was complaining, as long as it meant the others would be safe. He still didn't know what had happened to Maple, though he figured she'd be able to handle herself.

"Why'd you send him after Ricky and Xavier then?" Reggie asked.

"That's the dragons' names?" General Sixclaws asked, looking somewhat amused. He chuckled, thinking for a bit. "Well, that's surprising. And to answer your question, I sent him out to keep him occupied, otherwise he'd probably defy orders and rush out anyway. This way I at least have some control."

"_But_...why keep someone like that in charge?"

"He's from a family of powerful, influential nobles, who aren't too keen about the Sand Kingdom's current queen," he explained. "She agreed to put their son in a high ranking position in the army, to keep them out of trouble. And it's _my_ job to make sure he doesn't screw too much up while he's here." The General seemed somewhat disgruntled in saying this, though Reggie could tell that he planned to carry out his thankless task regardless of what the man with the sunglasses did.

Reggie turned up to the ceiling, the light gleaming above him as he lost himself in thought. Ricky and Xavier were somewhere out there, hopefully far away from wherever the colonel was heading. Maple was likely still lost in the city, unless the government had finally managed to grab her. And now it looked like Hidden had just barged in with the Salvation.

"Alright." he said, turning back to the General. "So um...have you ever heard of a game called Twister?"

* * *

**Hills East of Possibility**

**Late Morning**

Ricky stared out at the vast plains that stretched out to the east of Possibility, the city itself standing tall along the smooth horizon. Thin beams of sunlight shone down through the leaves of the oak tree he was laying beneath, dancing across his crimson scales as the leaves shifted in the breeze. The smell of grass wafted through the air, the pale green blades rustling in the wind.

A small grin crossed the SkyWing's snout, as he remembered all the times he had visited these plains with Hidden and Xavier when they were kids. Hidden had always had some crazy idea he'd wanted to try out, and despite his best efforts to protest against it, Xavier always wound up wrapped up in it with him. Ricky had always been willing to tag along, even if most of the projects wound up failing spectacularly. He might not have been a tech genius like the other two, but he'd always be there to stand by them when things went awry.

They'd spent hours in those fields, building rockets, go-karts, and even Bippy. Ricky still remembered the look of pure glee on his brother's face when the drone had finally managed to stay in the air without crashing into the grassy soil.

He sighed. They seemed so close to home, yet were still so far. How many more Pyrrhias would they have to go through before they could get home. Before they could see their father again.

Ricky turned away from the vast open expanse, looking back into the small cluster of trees he and Xavier had taken refuge in. The injured RainWing had leaned himself against a thick tree trunk, wincing from the bullet wounds scattered about his body as he fiddled with the inter-timeline morse code device Hidden had made.

Even with the energy shield Hidden had snagged from the futuristic timeline he and Xavier had visited, Ricky had still been unable to fully protect his friend.

"Hey, Xavier?" Ricky asked, "What're you doing?"

Xavier continued tapping a message into the device for a moment longer, before stuffing it into his shoulder pack, wincing from a bloody bullet hole in his shoulder. "I just sent Hidden a message with our approximate coordinates. Hopefully, he'll be here soon." Xavier explained.

The RainWing attempted to stand up and walk over to Ricky, but quickly faltered and laid back down again, grunting in pain. Ricky shivered, realizing that the bullets hadn't even been removed yet. While none of the bullets seemed to have struck anything vital, there were still small, bloody holes scattered about the RainWing's body, his scales white around the affected areas and pale green everywhere else.

"You alright...Xavier?" Ricky hesitantly asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine…." the RainWing responded, though Ricky could easily tell Xavier was only trying to calm his nerves. Their first aid supplies from the med bay were back on the shuttle, and without proper treatment, Xavier's injuries could very well get infected.

A massive bang drew Ricky's attention away from his injured friend. Far off on the horizon, above the forest of skyscrapers that was Possibility, was the Salvation, gleaming in all of its golden glory.

Ricky felt himself well up with hope, help now on its way. He quickly turned back to Xavier, who was grinning despite his injuries, hints of yellow starting to dance across his scales.

"See, everything's going to be fine." Xavier stated reassuredly.

Ricky turned back towards the city, the Salvation hovering in place above it. Seconds turned into minutes, and Ricky was starting to wonder if Hidden was still trying to figure out how to pilot the thing. Eventually, the massive ship had begun to slowly turn in their direction, but by then, another sound had reached Ricky's ears.

The sound of motor vehicles, dozens of them.

He gazed out at the vast ocean of grass before him, and saw dozens of tiny specs starting to grow on the horizon. Many were scattered about the expansive terrain, but they all came rushing towards the lightly forested hills that would eventually lead to the Claws of the Clouds Mountains.

As they grew closer, Ricky could start to make out some of their profiles. Helicopters, armored transports, tanks, each likely filled with soldiers armed to the teeth.

"Xavier! Xavier! We...we need to go…." Ricky said, rushing over to the RainWing. He attempted to help him up, Xavier struggling to stand on only three legs.

"Let me guess, that sunglasses dude from before is back for round two." Xavier bluntly stated.

Ricky grinned. Hidden was usually the one to keep up a plucky attitude in dire situations. "Yeah, more than likely." he said, "You...think you can fly?"

Xavier opened up his wings, a few small holes in the membranes from stray gunfire, but nothing that wouldn't eventually heal.

"The joints feel fine, and the holes don't seem..._urk_...too bad…." Xavier muttered. Ricky frowned. The small tears in his wing membranes wouldn't hamper his friend's flight too much, but Ricky couldn't shake the irrational thought of something snagging on them and tearing Xavier's wings apart.

"Come on, we can hide out further in the mountains. I can give Hidden our new location then." Xavier said. Ricky nodded, and the two carefully lifted into the air, Ricky supporting his friend with every beat of his wings.

* * *

**AN:**

**This chapter's meant to be about the aftermath of the catastrophic first encounter in the park. Maple's section does feel a little rushed, and there isn't much detailed description of the city, though as the chapter states, she can't just go running about the city gawking at every new and interesting thing. Maple's curious, but she's not dumb. Still, I probably could have gone with something more interesting than a standard modern city for Possibility, but this episode won't spend much time there anyway, and it would have been a bit much for me to worry about for a single week, considering everything else that has to be set up in this chapter.**

**The logic surrounding Reggie's part was a bit tough to work with. I had to set certain events in motion, like the Colonel going out hunting for Ricky and Xavier, and Reggie helping them pilot the shuttle, but figuring out reasons for why those things are happening that make sense is the hard part. I eventually settled with the idea that the Colonel comes from a family of nobles who dislike Queen Thorn (this timeline is meant to follow the plot of the main books, just with a different coat of paint). There could probably be a spin off one shot detailing the past of him, like how his family holds a powerful influence over much of the Sand Kingdom, and achieved this through their firm support of Burn in the war, but that's a whole separate story. Hopefully it at least makes some sense and doesn't feel too plot holey.**

**The final part seems fine to me, possibly a tad rushed. I don't actually want Xavier to get infected or seriously injured, as I want to have him tag along for the next episode, though it'll be tough considering the situation I've put them in. Then again, they do have a med bay with medical technology that surpasses our own, so stuff like that might not be as big of a threat to them. I also might start incorporating larger time skips between episodes, having them travel through many insignificant timelines and only really focus on the interesting ones. There are about four to five episodes left after this one, so things need to be able to move pretty quickly.**

**Stay tuned!**


	30. Chapter 30: The Mothership

**Review Responses:**

**UnidentifiedWhistlingObject - I'm going through all that stuff too, I know how you feel! In fact, I just got accepted into my university pick, though I decided to take a bunch of hard classes for my Senior year. I can understand why you can't review all the time, and that's fine, I can barely get these chapters out myself! Hope you enjoy the story going forward!**

**Pt35 - For now the futuristic weapons are a bit basic, as I haven't put ****_too_**** much thought into them, but later on when they become more involved with the multiverse, I can experiment with some more interesting weapon designs. Perhaps even weapons based on the different tribes and their abilities!**

**The energy shield was from the cyberpunk Sky Kingdom, Hidden snagged it from the arena.**

**I'm thinking about having some characters get seriously injured later on, but for now the story is meant to be a bit more lighthearted, so injuries are generally nothing too terribly life threatening. I've wanted Xavier to be in the next episode, but considering his injuries, I could either have a short time skip between this and the next, or just have him sit it out. Their wounds don't heal instantaneously though, Lin's fractured leg will take two weeks to heal, and while it's a lot faster compared to how long it would take with modern technology (based on a quick google search I did), I think it's slow enough to make it meaningful.**

* * *

**Chapter 30: The Mothership**

* * *

**Northeast of Possibility**

**Mid Afternoon**

Not long after the arrival of the Salvation, the soldiers driving the vehicle Maple had been hiding in received new orders. Maple wasn't able to make out the full conversation, but from what she could hear, they were to head toward the forested hills to the northeast of Possibility, and aid in the capture of the two escaped aliens.

_Ricky and Xavier…. _Maple thought, as the vehicle lurched around and began to head back the way it came.

Waves of heat rippled across the hot desert sand, the vehicle's black rubber wheels crunching against the worn grey road ahead. Maple spent much of the hot, miserable trip out of the rolling dunes staring at the glistening shape of the Salvation on the horizon, wondering why Hidden had shown up all of a sudden.

Shortly after its appearance, the Salvation had begun to cruise over toward the forested hills too, but for some reason, it changed course, rising higher into the sky and hovering in place above the sparse clouds.

She sighed, turning her attention to the world rushing by her as the vehicle entered the outskirts of the city, the buildings there far shorter and covered in odd colorful paintings. They eventually emerged on the other side, veering down a gravel road that cut its way through the rolling hills of tall dry grass.

The terrain was beautiful, and while the sun still beat down relentlessly, a cool wind blowing through the fields made it slightly less unbearable. Though, it still didn't change the fact that she was hiding in the back of an enemy vehicle, riding out into the middle of nowhere.

Before long, they began to enter a sparse forest, clusters of trees gathered atop the hills slowly converging into a sprawling canopy of green. Maple wasn't sure how long it had been since they had first left Possibility, nor how many others were heading in their same direction, but they had already fallen behind another government vehicle, with a third trailing close behind them.

The short convoy continued to wind its way through the increasingly dense forest, before it arrived at the entrance to a small clearing. A man dressed in a fancy sandy colored uniform walked up to the vehicle ahead of them, discussing something with its drivers before looking through the cargo it carried.

Maple froze, immediately realizing that if she didn't get out now, she'd get captured just like Reggie. The vehicle lurched forward, stopping next to the well dressed man as he began talking with the woman behind the wheel.

"We were taking this ammo back to base when we got the call, figured you could use it!" the woman explained, nodding to the back of the vehicle. Maple shuddered, it was now or never. She slowly lifted up the tarp, and silently slipped out of the back of the vehicle, carefully resting each foot on the gravel below as to not make too much noise. By the time the inspector had come around to check the vehicle's load, she had already slipped behind some nearby bushes.

The inspector slapped the back of the vehicle twice, and it drove into the clearing without incident, Maple letting out a long sigh of relief. From her spot in the bushes, she could make out about a dozen or so vehicles parked about the clearing, soldiers marching to and fro as officers barked out orders. Every now and then one of the vehicles would head off further into the woods, one or two more quickly taking its place.

_Looks like some sort of waypoint._ Maple figured, watching the vehicles come and go, _Probably shouldn't stick around to find out, though._

She slowly started to back up from the clearing, careful not to step on any twigs along the way. When she was far enough away that she figured the rumbling of the vehicles would mask out any noise she made, she relaxed, finally taking the time to truly admire the scenery around her.

It felt surprisingly like home, despite the warmer temperature and darker colored trees. Leaves and branches crunched beneath the white shoes that had come paired with the jumpsuit she had put on back at the salvation, the bright fabric such a stark contrast to the leaves, she wondered why no one had seen her sneaking away.

"Hey! You there!"

Maple froze. Should she run, like she did back in Possibility? Then again, if the soldiers had those gun things, they could kill her at a distance. Perhaps it was best to surrender; maybe then she'd be taken to where they took Reggie?

"Maple…? Is that you?"

Maple looked up to see a small machine descending from the leafy canopy. It had a round white body, and four rapidly spinning propellers within shiny white rings attached to its sides. It hovered just above her, a black eye looking thing staring at her in a way that reminded her of the "waiter" back at the pancake house.

"H-_Hidden?_" she asked, finally recognizing the voice.

"In the flesh...or, drone, I guess." he replied, his voice slightly distorted.

"Wh-where are you right now? And what _is_ that thing?" Maple asked hesitantly, the "drone's" small, beady eye unnerving her.

"Back at the Salvation, where else would I be? And this is Bippy." Hidden explained. Maple swore she had heard Reggie mention it once, though she hadn't been expecting it to be..._this_.

"Speaking of which, what are you doing _here_?" he continued.

Maple paused, casting a quick glance back towards the military encampment not far behind her. "It's a...long story…."

"You can uh, tell me once you're back on the Salvation, kapish?"

"Wait, but isn't it…?" she replied, not quite sure what that last word had meant. Last she had seen, the Salvation was hovering far above the clouds, and unless Hidden was going to fly down and pick her up himself, the only way she'd be able to get up there would be to….

"_Wait_...you're not _seriously _suggesting that I ride _that_ thing all the way up there?" she asked, pointing a finger at the drone.

There was a brief pause, before the drone descended down next to her, it's four rapidly spinning blades kicking up dust and leaves. "Yeah, that's exactly what I'm suggesting." Hidden clarified, "Don't worry, I'll be sure to fly _extra_ careful."

Hidden's statement wasn't exactly reassuring, though considering her other options, Maple hesitantly nodded. She carefully walked up to the machine, eyeing the spinning blades warily, and leapt up onto Bippy, scrambling to get a hold on the drone's slippery white shell.

She slipped right off the first time, but on the second, she managed to latch her fingers onto a small notch on its back, pulling herself up until her body was balanced atop it, her legs dangling precariously over the front with no real foothold.

"Hey, uh, do you think you could move your feet?" Hidden asked, "They're uh...they're blocking the camera."

Maple slid her legs to the side, out of the way of the drone's eye. "Hidden?" she started, already starting to feel her grip on the drone loosening, "I don't think this is gonna…."  
Before she could finish, Bippy shot up into the air, Maple nearly slipping off as it rapidly ascended. It abruptly stopped once it had cleared the treeline, flinging Maple into the air a bit as she struggled to keep a good hold.

"Sorry 'bout that! Never really flown this thing with a passenger before, gotta account for the added weight. You alright Maple?" Hidden asked.

"Hidden, I _swear_ if this thing kills me!" Maple grumbled, having to pull herself away from one of Bippy's blades. She could already feel herself growing nauseous, and the Salvation was still so far away.

"_Relax_, I think I've got the hang of it now." Hidden said.

Bippy jerked forward, gliding over the treetops. Maple watched as the sea of green flew by beneath her, the clearing quickly disappearing into the distance. The drone soon angled upwards, rising higher and higher until the trees looked like dark smudges amidst a vast green canvas.

Despite the fact that she felt like she could fall to her death at any moment, the view was still breathtaking. A flock of birds flew in the distance, their cries just barely audible over the drone's buzzing. Soon even they became mere dots over the landscape, as Bippy rose up through a lone, puffy cloud, the condensation causing the drone's shell to become even more slippery.

The drone burst up through the cloud, Maple turning her head around to see the Salvation glistening behind her, a beacon of hope amidst a vast blue sky. _Just a...just a little bit longer…._ she thought, her stomach already starting to retch from the bumpy flight, and her fingers aching from grasping onto the back of the drone's shell.

The rear hanger of the salvation was hung wide open, Bippy carefully hovering down just above the metal floor. Maple immediately slipped off of the drone, kneeling onto the floor as she tried to keep herself from puking. She heard another buzzing noise pass her by, and turned to see a second drone, this one without a shell to cover up its inner mechanisms, fly past her with some sort of package.

"What the..._ugh_...Hidden, what was that." Maple asked, feeling right on the verge of vomiting.

"You go blowing chunks on the floor, you're cleaning it up." Hidden said through Bippy, "And _that_ was Bippy 2."

"Bippy...two…?"

"Yeah, I built it outta some leftover parts once I finished fixing up the original Bippy here. It ain't as fancy, but it's good for carrying stuff." Hidden explained.

"Where's it going?" she asked, staring out of the hangar. Her stomach was starting to feel a bit better, but she was still dizzy from the flight.

"Oh, Xavier sent me another message while I was flying you here, it looks like they went further into the mountains. I packed some medical supplies on Bippy 2 as well, apparently Xavier was shot up pretty bad."

Another _message? I guess that explains why Hidden's here._

"At any rate, Xavier's pretty tough. I'm...sure he'll be fine." Hidden finished, though there was a slight hint of worry in his voice.

"Why not go down there and deliver the supplies yourself, or send down a shuttle to get them?" Maple asked. There were still five more of the smaller ships parked in the massive chamber, after all.

Hidden chuckled in response. "Heh, there's _no way_ I could send anything larger than a drone down there without causing an absolute riot. You saw all those military dudes, didn't you?" he said, sighing. "Though, it also makes getting Ricky and Xavier outta there pretty difficult, and I wouldn't want to give away where they're hiding with a massive search party out there looking for 'em."

Bippy began to hover off towards one of the adjacent hallways as Hidden continued speaking, Maple standing up and walking after it. "For now, I'll have Bippy 2 deliver them medical supplies so Ricky can patch Xavier up, and while they hide out, we can work on dealing with the army guys."  
"What about Reggie?" Maple asked, remembering the soldiers tackling him back in the city.

"I thought he'd be with you."

Maple shook her head. "He was captured by the government, not sure where they've taken him though." she explained. The truck she'd hidden in had been heading towards wherever their main base was, prior to the Salvation's unexpected arrival.

"They probably won't hurt him, for now at least." Hidden stated, "All the more reason to smooth things over quickly, right?"

Maple soon realized that they were approaching the med bay, which was only a short distance further down the hallway. A short distance for a dragon, that was, as getting anywhere in the Salvation felt like a marathon to a human like herself.

"So, how are Lin and Darkstalker doing?" she asked.

Hidden seemed to think for a moment before responding. "_Well_, Lin's just about the same, though she seems a little more irritable than usual. I'm pretty sure Darkstalker's already fully healed, and just can't leave since whatever device he used to travel between timelines was stolen from him."

"You know, I saw Darkstalker listening to something on what looked like Ricky's PDA." Maple said, remembering her harrowing escape from the med bay days prior.

"Oh, yeah." Hidden said, "Ricky left him his PDA so he could listen to music while he got better. He acts like he doesn't care, but I've totally got recordings of him jamming out when he thinks no one's looking, thanks to Bippy here."

"You _WHAT!_"

Maple and Bippy froze, both slowly turning simultaneously to see Darkstalker standing angrily in the med bay's doorway. Smoke swirled from his nostrils, and a bright white energy pulsated through the nodes and cables attached to his body.

"Oh, uh…." Hidden began timidly, "_Hi_..._Darkstalker_…feeling better?"

The fuming NightWing shot a blast of blinding white energy at Bippy, Hidden barely managing to pilot the drone out of the way as it scorched the wall across the hall. Bippy flew off further down the hallway, Maple having to dive out of the way as Darkstalker trampled past her, shouting angrily in draconic and firing off more energy blasts at the drone.

Maple chuckled, getting up to her feet as she listened to the echoes of Darkstalker's shouting reverberating throughout the halls. She turned towards the wide open med bay door, and stepped in to see Lin lying on one of the cots at the far end of the room.

The EarthWing had been silently watching the commotion with a slight grin on her face, and skeptically gazed down at Maple as she approached the cot. Maple waved at the large, dark-brown scaled dragon, who replied with a somewhat quizzical expression.

"Hey, um, Lin, was it?" Maple started. Lin cocked her head at the tiny human, and Maple slapped her forehead, remembering that she didn't speak Human, or _Syllabic_, as Reggie called it.

Lin grumbled something in draconic, which Maple assumed to be something like "_Why is this tiny person talking to me?_". Maple sighed, and smiled up at Lin.

"I'm Maple!" Maple shouted in her best draconic, trying to project her voice up to the dragon lying on the cot that was twice her height. Lin looked down at her with mild surprise, and a tad bit of amusement.

"It's nice meet you, Lin!" Maple continued. This time, the EarthWing chuckled in response, angling her neck down to get a closer look at the human. Her amusement was cut short though, as she winced in pain, turning towards her bandaged leg.

"It hurt?" Maple asked.

Lin paused, staring at her injured leg, and shook her head. "It's...it's fine…." she replied. She said something else in draconic, which Maple roughly assumed to be "Not as bad as what Hidden's got coming."

The two chuckled for a bit, when the SandWing in question stuck his head into the med bay, warily shifting his gaze about the area.

"_Hey, Maple!_" he whispered, "_Darkstalker didn't come back around here, did he?_"

Maple shook her head and walked over to the SandWing, briefly pausing to wave goodbye to Lin. "Last I checked he was chasing Bippy. Did he catch it?" she asked.

"No, I've got it on a program Xavier made that should keep him busy for a while." Hidden said, smirking. "Come on, there's...something you need to see."

Maple followed Hidden down the twisting halls of the Salvation, stepping into the massive dragon-sized elevator with him to ascend to the upper levels. All the while, the SandWing constantly checked his PDA, Maple guessing that it had something to do with whatever that "program" thing he mentioned was.  
They eventually arrived at the bridge, a wide floor to ceiling window sprawling across three of the four walls of the chamber. Screens and controls lined two lower areas on both sides of the chamber, with a single control panel set up at the end of the middle walkway. Hidden helped her up onto it, pointing at a projection emanating from the back of the podium.

"I was hoping you'd know what _this_ is all about." the SandWing explained.

Maple squinted. The rectangular image seemed to be depicting a zoomed in perspective of the vase desert that sprawled out to the west. A tiny dot could be seen gliding across the sandy dunes, and while Maple couldn't make it out at first, as it grew closer she quickly recognized it as one of the Salvation's shuttles.

"That's...the shuttle we used to come here." Maple stated.

"Yeah, I know that. But why is it flying across the desert towards us when Ricky and Xavier are way off in the mountains?"

Maple knew the answer. After the cacophony of that morning, the government had seized the shuttle, and carted it off to their base. Now, somehow, they'd figured out how to fly the thing, and were coming straight for them.

"It's the government, it had to be." Maple said, turning back to Hidden.

"Oh, great, well, someone should probably go down there and meet them, or something." Hidden remarked, turning to Maple with a grin.

"Wait, you want _me_ to go down there? Why don't you do it! You're the one who can fly!"

"_And_, I'm also the only one here who can fly the Salvation. Lin's injured, and Darkstalker is...preoccupied…."

"But how am I supposed to get to them?" Maple asked. "I am _not_ riding Bippy again."

Hidden shook his head. "Nah, I was thinking something...bigger."

Maple thought for a moment. She couldn't possibly pilot one of the shuttles by herself, so the only other thing Hidden could mean would be….

"Wait, you don't mean?"

Hidden grinned. "Yep! You think you could make the Reggie-tron fly?"

* * *

**AN:**

**Chapter 30!**

**It's crazy to think how far this story has come, and how many adventures there already have been. I still have so much more I want to add to this, and it's a bit daunting, but looking back at what I've already managed to write, it seems a lot more doable. Still had to seriously crunch to get this chapter done at the last minute, though. School's been ramping up big time.**

**I've noticed that this story doesn't seem to get as much attention as some others on the site, and I think I have an idea as to why. A lot of the other more popular stories on the site tend to center around popular themes and story lines within the fandom, stuff that is much more appealing to someone browsing the site. This story's a bit more unconventional in its premise, and as such likely doesn't attract as much attention as the others. Essentially, I'm working with a niche audience within yet another niche audience, and I'm hoping to branch out. It would be nice to see more people leaving reviews on my story, to have a larger number of voices and opinions about my writing. That way I have a better idea about what works and what doesn't, and it might also be beneficial to my overall morale in writing. I've been hesitant to ask people to leave reviews though, but I think I have a solution. I'm considering posting WoF related sketches I make onto the WoF Reddit page, mainly stuff related to this story. I probably won't post new chapters there, as there's already so much of the story written it would be impossible to catch up. Still, I think it would allow me to branch out and attract more readers to this story, and perhaps see what they think about it. At the same time, it would be a nice way to share some of the backlog of sketches I've made based on this story.**

**With that rambling out of the way, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

**Stay tuned!**


	31. Chapter 31: The Reggie-tron 9000

**Review Responses:**

**itsblippingJBH - I'm glad you like it! The ****world building**** is the part I've felt the strongest about overall, so I'm glad that's paying off!**

**Pt35 - Dang, I've never witnessed a wreck like that. Sounds kinda scary to me!**

**I actually intended for Hidden to remark about having to retreat to a higher altitude because of aircraft flybys, though I guess I just wasn't able to fit that in. That said, I would imagine that Sixclaws wouldn't want to provoke anymore unwanted conflict, which is why he opted for a smaller group to fly up there.**

**I actually upload chapters every Saturday, not at a specific time or anything though. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep posting chapters weekly like this with school and all, but I've managed to push through so far.**

* * *

**Chapter 31: The Reggie-tron 9000**

* * *

**The Salvation Hangar Bay**

**Late Afternoon**

"H-Hidden? I'm not too sure about this…."

Maple sat in the cockpit of the Reggie-tron 9000, the metal dragon standing warily on its hind legs at the edge of the Salvation's lowered rear hanger door. The vast precipice of the blue sky sprawled out before her, a few lonely clouds drifting by below. She felt herself growing dizzy at the astronomical sight, struggling to keep her arms steady so as to not preemptively plunge herself towards the grassy hills far below.

"_Don't worry._ Reggie already figured out how to get this thing into the air." Hidden remarked, giving her his best reassuring grin.

Maple wasn't having any of it.

"He only figured that out two days ago, and if I remember correctly, he slammed into the hangar roof so hard he left a dent visible on the floor above."

Hidden smirked. "Well, you won't have to worry about any roofs out there."

Maple turned the Reggie-tron to Hidden, and Hidden seemed to sense her unamused frown on the other side of the metal shell. "Hey, if worst comes to worst, just spread your wings and glide to safety." he said.

The whined suddenly picked up, whistling as it whipped across the mechanical dragon's synthetic wing membranes. Maple turned back to the edge of the hangar ramp hesitantly. _Come on Maple, you've done crazier than this!_ she thought to herself; though, looking back, leaping out from above the clouds in a giant metal casket _kind of_ topped the list.

She sighed. "Welp, here goes nothing." she murmured.

She stared at the rectangular projection of the world ahead of her, tossing aside any reservations as she had on the day she'd snuck up to that SandWing in the forest, and the day she'd met Reggie for the first time, and took a step out of the hangar.

"Woah...wha...WAH!" she shouted, the Reggie-tron losing its balance and tumbling off of the hangar door. The mecha spun head over heels, spiraling out of control as Maple flailed her arms in an attempt to stabilize the thing. She swung her arms out to her sides, spreading the metal dragon's wings and halting the nauseating spinning, but her plummet persisted.

_Come on, come on! What was it he said he did?_ Maple panicked, the memory _just _slipping out of her grasp as the grassy hills grew ever closer on the display.

And in an instant, she had it, quickly balling her hands into fists and swinging her arms down to her sides. A loud rumble emanated from beneath her, fiery jets on the Reggie-tron's legs bursting to life as it stabilized itself into a stationary hover. Her descent ground to a halt, the hills so close she could make out individual blades of grass.

She turned back up towards the Salvation, a tiny speck amongst the nearly cloudless sky. Slipping one of her hands out of its gauntlet, she pressed a holographic button next to the projection of the outside world (another of Reggie's recent discoveries), the dark cockpit slowly falling away as the video feed spread all around her. Soon enough, the darkened interior of the Reggie-tron had completely disappeared, replaced by the rolling hills of dry grass of the outside world.

Maple grinned. All the fear that had filled her before replaced with pure exhilaration. Without a moment's hesitation, she instinctively swung her arms out behind her, the Reggie-tron's thrusters rocketing her off into the endless blue sky. The world spun out beneath her as the Reggie-tron swirled upside-down, spiraling higher and higher.

_Where has this _been _all my life!_ Maple thought, as she spun and whirled through the air, not entirely in control of the metal dragon, but too excited to care. Flying inside the Reggie-tron, with the world projected all around, far surpassed riding on the back of a dragon. Now, she _was_ the dragon, and the sky was _her_ domain.

Maple had nearly forgotten why she had been piloting the Reggie-tron in the first place, the thrill of flight consuming her, but the sight of another tiny speck on the horizon, far smaller than the Salvation up above, snapped her out of it. She attempted to stabilize the Reggie-tron once again, the machine flipping backwards a couple of times before stopping in mid air. The ground was so far below her, and ahead, the shiny silver outline of one of the Salvation's shuttles glistened like a shining star in the middle of the day.

Maple grinned, lightly flexing her fingers within the gauntlets as she sized up her target. It seemed to have slowed to a stop, its drivers likely having spotted Maple spiraling around in the air.

_Alright._ she thought, feeling a new wave of confidence wash over her as she sat within the metal dragon, _Time to go say hello._

She yanked her arms back, and the Reggie-tron rocketed forward at tremendous speed, rapidly closing the distance between her and the shuttle. It wasn't until she was mere moments away from it that Maple remembered that she had yet to perfect the art of stopping, and she quickly veered the Reggie-tron up, just barely avoiding a collision with the bulky aircraft.

The metal dragon spiraled past the shuttle, Maple struggling to set it straight as the world spun around her at dizzying speed. She finally managed to get it under control, hovering in an upright position with its wings spread out for balance. She slowly turned around to face the shuttle, having overshot it by a short distance.

"Sorry!" she shouted through the Reggie-tron's speakers, unsure if the people inside of the shuttle could hear her. Either way, she didn't get a response, the shuttle hovering motionlessly in mid-air.  
Maple looked down at the world spread out beneath her, and spotted a small clearing at the center of a large cluster of trees. She pointed one of the Reggie-tron's talons down towards it, and after a moment of silence, the shuttle began to slowly descend towards the clearing. Maple followed suit, gradually cutting the thrusters' power as she descended towards the cluster of trees. By the time she had just barely begun to grace the treetops, though, she accidentally cut all power to the thrusters and was sent crashing through the thick blanket of leaves.

Maple groaned, staring up at the dense canopy above her, the Reggie-tron having landed on its back amidst the dense underbrush. A few birds shot up from the branches, their caws fading into the distance as they fled the giant metal monstrosity that had invaded their woods.

Rolling the Reggie-tron back up onto all fours, Maple slowly made her way towards the clearing, pushing aside low hanging branches and trampling a fair amount of shrubs beneath its cold metal talons. By the time she'd stepped out of the dense treeline, the shuttle had already landed in the center of the clearing, it's rear ramp lowered onto the grassy earth.

A dozen or so humans were milling about inside of the vessel, some carrying long poles nearly twice their height. Maple chuckled, realizing how they had managed to pilot the oversized ship, when two people stepped down the ramp towards her.

One was a tall man, with brown skin and dark hair, wearing a uniform adorned with various colorful badges, and who curiously seemed to have six fingers on each hand. He stared up in awe at the formidable metal dragon that stood before him, though never allowed his wonder to disrupt his composure. And the other was….

"Reggie?!" Maple shouted, opening up the cockpit of the Reggie-tron, "What in flying fire snakes are you doing here?!"

Reggie grinned, hands on his hips. "I _knew_ it was you in there! I can't believe you got to fly that thing around first!"

"Hey, you're the one that got yourself captured." Maple replied, "And you didn't answer my question."

Reggie grinned. "I think you just did, though." Maple frowned, and Reggie chuckled, holding up his hands apologetically. "Alright, alright. I was just helping these guys fly the shuttle, so we could come up and smooth things over."

Maple looked past Reggie and the six-fingered man, seeing more of the soldiers within the shuttle marching down the ramp behind the two. Some of them held guns, which did unnerve her, though they didn't seem too terribly threatening; at least when compared to the strike force from earlier that morning.

The six-fingered man stepped forward, standing up straight as he addressed Maple. "You must be Maple, correct?" he asked. Maple nodded.

"Well, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm General Sixclaws, and I would like to apologize on behalf of my subordinate for the disastrous events of earlier this morning. I can assure you that the Sand Kingdom does not wish any…."

"Now hold on just a minute." a voice called out from the trees. Maple froze, recognizing the voice in an instant.

A four-wheeled vehicle, similar to the one she had taken refuge in, drove out from the encircling treeline and into the clearing. As it slid to a stop, a man wearing a sandy brown uniform and dark glasses stepped out of the front, grinning as if he had just been crowned king.

Soon, more vehicles burst out of the trees, including some of the large armored vehicles with the long cannons, until they completely surrounded the clearing. Soldiers marched out between the vehicles, guns held at the ready towards their dumbstruck targets.

"Now then." the man with the dark glasses said through a cone shaped device that amplified the sound of his voice, "I'll be taking that shuttle, and that robot thing too."

* * *

**AN:**

**I actually chopped this chapter in half in order to upload it on time. I was so focused (and stressed) with school this week that I never got around to really working on it until Thursday, so I decided it would be best to opt for a shorter chapter this week and wrap up Maple's episode next week. It is a little odd though how both human characters get six chapters while the dragons each only get five.**

**The next episode is gonna be a bit of a...weird...one, but I'll get to that when the time comes.**

**Stay tuned!**


	32. Chapter 32: Insurrection

**Review Responses:**

**Blackberry Avar - It is interesting to think what would have happened had that warning shot not gone off, though it's likely that the man with the dark glasses would have shot at them anyway. Though perhaps Sixclaws would have had enough time to intervene?**

* * *

**Chapter 32: Insurrection**

* * *

**East of Possibility**

**Late Afternoon**

"What is the meaning of this?!"

The soldiers surrounding the clearing edged forward, General Sixclaws taking a step back as his own troops readied their weapons. Maple warrily looked around at the assailants, vivid flashbacks to earlier that morning running through her head. Even from within the giant metal dragon, she still felt intimidated by the formidable army.

"I've been waiting a _long time_ for this, you know?" the man with the dark glasses stated, briefly taking off his spectacles to wipe them with a cloth, his insidious grin never fading. He pulled a small gun out of a holster on his side, pointing it directly at Sixclaws.

"Wha...this is Treason!" the general shouted, "You'll be thrown from the forces for this, and your _parents_ won't be able to help you either!"

"Oh quite the contrary, really. My parents are the reason I'm here speaking to you now." the man explained. Maple could tell by Sixclaws' neutral reaction that this was no surprise to him.

"As you know, my parents aren't all too fond of Thorn." the man with the dark glasses continued.

"_Get to the point._" Sixclaws growled through gritted teeth. Maple squinted her eyes at the general for a moment. He seemed to be whispering something to Reggie, and passed him something too small for Maple to make out, which Reggie promptly stuck into his ears.

"Well, in short, my parents believe that, with the help of this amazing technology that these aliens have been so kind to bring us, we could place a new, more capable queen on the throne. _Maybe_ not as capable as Burn would have been, though."

"You mean a more easily manipulated queen?" Sixclaws sneered, "I assume all of these troops are under Lady Muskrat's influence as well?"

"Astute as always, I see! Maybe Thorn wasn't so clueless in appointing you after all. Still, her time as queen, and yours as general, have come to an…."

"THAT'S _QUEEN_ THORN TO YOU!" Sixclaws shouted, hurling a small device towards the man with the dark glasses. It hit the ground a short distance in front of him, and immediately unleashed a piercing screech that tore through Maple's head.

Many of the surrounding soldiers quickly fell to the ground, clutching their ears, while others began firing their guns furiously amidst the chaos. Sixclaws and his troops began backing up into the safety of the shuttle, many of them holding large body shields to protect against the oncoming torrents of gunfire.

Maple noticed Reggie making a mad dash towards her, and instinctively lowered the Reggie-tron's wings to shield him as he slid between its legs. She slammed the cockpit shut, the sound of bullets pinging off of its metal armor all around her.

"Get us outta here!" Reggie shouted, grabbing hold of one of the Reggie-tron's hind legs. Maple lifted the mecha up onto its hind legs, preparing to take to the sky, when a blast from one of the armored vehicles near her sent her reeling backwards. She accidentally crushed the front of one of the four wheeled vehicles beneath one of the Reggie-tron's metal feet, as another shot from one of the armored vehicles struck the Reggie-tron's left foreleg.

A diagram of the Reggie-tron flashed before her, red lights flashing near the spot where it had been hit, and Maple realized that the left foreleg wasn't responding to her commands.

"Come on!" Reggie shouted.

Maple gritted her teeth, and swung her arms down, propelling the Reggie-tron into the air, the grass beneath it burning to cinders.

She spun and weaved as gunfire continued to spray up from the ground, a couple more shots from the armored vehicles whizzing past her. Reggie clung to the Reggie-tron's leg as tightly as he could, reminding Maple of her own harrowing flight atop Bippy earlier that day.

She cleared the layer of sparse clouds, now well out of range of the soldier's fire, when her forward momentum began to decline. She turned to the diagram of the Reggie-tron, another red light flashing by one of its rear talons. Maple looked down to see smoke sputtering out of its thruster, some stray fire having damaged it. She turned her attention back to the Salvation, so close now that she had passed the clouds.

_Come on, just a little bit further!_

The open hanger door was just within reach, and Maple could see Hidden sticking his head curiously out to look at her. He quickly ducked out of the way, though, as she came careening into the hangar, sliding to a stop on the hangar floor. Reggie had leapt off of the Reggie-tron's leg, rolling along the floor as the smoking machine came in for a crash landing.

"What in blazing moons happened down there?!" Maple heard Hidden shout. She rolled the Reggie-tron over onto its back with its good foreleg, opening up the cockpit and pulling herself up out of it. She felt nearly as queasy as she had after her ride on Bippy, and the world was still spinning around her.

"Maple! You alright?" Reggie shouted, running over to the downed Reggie-tron. Maple gave him a shaky thumbs up, struggling to get to her feet atop the machine's metal belly.

"We need to..._ugh_...we need to get to Ricky and Xavier…." she struggled to say, her vision gradually starting to stabilize. "We need to get outta here."

"What about all those dudes with the tanks? What about Sixclaws?" Reggie asked, gesturing to the open hangar door.

"Tanks? You mean those big things with the long guns?"

"Yeah, and they're gonna kill him if we don't do something!"

"So he didn't tell you to go on without him?"

"Well, he did. But why would I do that!"

Maple grinned. Even though she'd only known him for a few minutes, she didn't feel like leaving the General stranded down there either. Still, the Reggie-tron was out of commission, and they likely wouldn't be able to do much without inadvertently killing people, something else she really didn't feel like doing.

"What do you think, Hidden?" she asked, but the SandWing had walked further down the hangar ramp, staring over the vast precipice below.

"Hey, guys? I think we've got some company." he said, before quickly leaping back as the shuttle rose up from below, hovering in place just outside of the hangar.

Its windshield was riddled with bullet holes, matching the scuffs and dents across its hull from Hidden, Ricky and Lin's previous adventure within it. Behind the ruptured glass, Maple could just barely make out the face of the man with the dark glasses, twisted in seething rage.

"H-How…." she sputtered, before realizing that he must have forced Sixclaws' troops to fly it for him. She knew with a sinking feeling what was about to happen next.

The shuttle shot forward, straight towards the fallen Reggie-tron, and Maple sitting atop it. There was no time to jump for cover, the man was going to kill her in one last desperate move.

Suddenly, a bolt of pure white lightning shot across the hangar, sweeping across the shuttle and overloading its systems. Its engines cut out, and it harmlessly ground across the hangar floor, lightly bumping into the Reggie-tron's rear talons.

Maple stared at the shuttle in shock, before turning towards the source of the white lightning. There, standing by one of the archways to the adjacent halls with a tired look on his face, was Darkstalker.

He stared at the shuttle apathetically for a moment, before turning to Hidden and tossing him a large white device. Hidden caught it in his foretalons, looking back at Darkstalker in a mix of confusion and relief.

"Spy on me with that thing again, and it's getting reduced to ash." the NightWing growled, before walking off down the hall, the glass nodes embedded in his talons clinking against the floor.

Silence hung over the hangar, the gentle hum of the Salvation's bottom thrusters echoing throughout the chamber. Hidden finally stepped forward, briefly checking Bippy for any damages before making his way out of the hangar.

"Well." he said, turning back to the two dumbstruck humans standing by the Reggie-tron 9000, "I dunno about you, but I'm getting some ice-cream."

* * *

**Northeast of Possibility**

**Evening**

Maple and Reggie stood next to each other by one of the shuttles, Maple shoving large spoonfuls of the delicious white stuff called "ice-cream" down her gullet. It tasted even sweeter than the pancakes, though Maple still found their fluffy consistency mixed with the goopy syrup to be slightly more enjoyable.

Hidden ate his ice-cream alongside Ricky and Xavier, the RainWing covered in bandages from his many bullet wounds. They had picked up the duo hours prior, and thankfully, it seemed none of Xavier's wounds were infected. Lin was laying off on the other end of the hangar, watching them with mild interest, and Darkstalker was...somewhere.

"Once again, I'd like to apologize for the actions of my subordinate." General Sixclaws said, standing next to another one of the flying machines Maple had seen earlier that day (she now knew it was something called a "helicopter"). One of his arms was slung across his chest, wrapped up in bandages similar to those on Xavier.

"Don't sweat it! He went rogue, right?" Hidden said, sticking another spoonful of ice-cream in his maw.

"Well, you can rest assured that he'll receive a just punishment for his crimes." Sixclaws explained, stepping up onto the helicopter as its blades slowly began to pick up speed. He took one last look at the massive hangar around him, smiling. "You know, I'm grateful you turned out to be friendly." he said, "I don't know what we would've done against a ship like this."

"I mean, it's not like this thing has any weapon systems, that we know of." Hidden remarked.

"Wait, it doesn't?!" Reggie asked, staring at Hidden in shock.

The SandWing shrugged. "Yeah. What, you think Xavier and I didn't check?"

General Sixclaws chuckled, the helicopter starting to rise up off of the hangar floor. "Good luck on finding your way home! And if you ever come back again, Queen Thorn would love to meet you!"

The helicopter veered out of the hangar, and flew off towards the vast desert, the setting sun blazing brightly behind the sea of sand dunes.

"C'mon Ricky." Hidden started, motioning to the SkyWing, "Let's get outta here before another kingdom tries to blow us out of the sky."  
Ricky paused, turning to Xavier. The RainWing gave him a nod, and the two began making their way out of the hangar.

"H-Hold on Hidden!" Reggie started, running up to the SandWing. Hidden paused, looking down at the human.

"You uh...you think you could fix up the Reggie-tron?" he asked, pointing a hand at the metal dragon, slumped against the hangar wall with its busted foreleg hung limp at its side. Hidden stared at it for a moment, before nodding.

"I've been reading up on some books about multiverse tech I got from Moss Town." he explained, "I think I could get it patched up."

Reggie grinned, and walked back over to Maple, as the two dragons stepped out of the hangar. "Hey, can't let you have all the fun, can I?" he asked, leaning against the shuttle next to her.

Maple yawned, stretching her arms up, having finished her bowl of ice-cream. "Yeah, well, I think I've had about enough fun for today." she yawned, already feeling bags under her eyes. She turned, walking off towards where Hidden and Ricky had gone off to. "Wake me up when we reach the next timeline, okay…." she groggily said, making her way to the one human sized bunk to catch some much needed sleep.

* * *

**AN:**

**I drafted this whole chapter on Sunday, and didn't proof read it 'till today, so I don't know if that will effect the quality of my writing, since I usually spend more time proofreading chapters and tweaking them as I write them. With school ramping up and the SAT coming next weekend, though, I figured it would be best to do all of my work on this story on the weekend.**

**I'm thinking about moving more into shorter chapters to ease my workload for each week, though nothing shorter than the shortest chapters thus far. This will likely cause episodes to have more chapters.**

**You can probably guess who will be the next POV. Stay tuned!**


	33. Chapter 33: Malfunctions

**Chapter 33: Malfunctions**

* * *

**The Salvation**

**Lowest Level**

_Clink. Clink. Clink._

Darkstalker listened to the sounds of his talons striking the cold metal floor of the Salvation, the circular glass nodes embedded in their dark scales ringing out softly through the halls. The cables strung across his body swung idly at his sides, as he made his way along the curvature of the vessel. Thick, glowing bars of light ran along each wall at shoulder level, energy pulsating through them as the Salvation carved a path between timelines.

_Clink. Clink. Clink._

His tail dragged along behind him, his dark eyes glaring down the pathway ahead. Every now and then, a sharp pain would shoot up through one of his legs as he set it back down on the metal floor. His bones still ached from his injuries days prior, but he ignored the pain. He'd felt worse.

_Clink. Clink. Clink._

Every step he took was a reminder of why he still drew breath, of the horrors that had turned him into what he was, the things he'd lost to their cruel grip, the….

"YEAUGH!"

Darkstalker barely had enough time to turn towards the source of the scream when a pale yellow dragon flew through the archway to his right, slamming into his side and sending him toppling over into the adjacent wall. He groaned, snorting the SandWing's short frills out of his face and kicking him off with his hind legs. The SandWing rolled across the metal floor, slowly getting to their feet.

"What is _wrong_ with you?!" Darkstalker hissed, standing up as well.

Hidden winced. "Hey, she's the one who _threw me across the friggin' hangar!_" he said, pointing toward the chamber beyond the archway.

Across the massive space stood Lin, a half smirk etched onto her face. "Need I remind you that you're the one asked to spar with me once I had the bandages off!" Lin shouted back, her voice echoing across the hangar.

"_Yeah, yeah…._" Hidden sighed, massaging his right foreleg as he stepped back into the hangar. Darkstalker stepped in behind him, his train of thought usurped by the alluring prospect of watching the irritating SandWing have the scales beaten off of him.

"You ready for another round?" Lin asked as Hidden stepped up to face her, Darkstalker standing over by one of the shuttles.

"_Nah_, I think enough of my muscles have been tenderized for one day." Hidden replied.

Lin shrugged. "If you say so." she said, walking off towards another of the archways, leaving Hidden and Darkstalker alone in the hangar.

Hidden let out a sigh of relief, and made his way to the large monitor that had been hooked up to the RainWing's laptop. He grabbed one of his makeshift controllers, switched the laptop and monitor on, and flopped down on a pile of blankets that had been brought out of the storage bay, eyes glued to the screen. Darkstalker watched the SandWing for a moment, a slightly disappointed frown on his face, before starting towards the hallways.

"Where are you going?"

"My room." he stated, not even bothering to turn towards the SandWing.

Hidden smirked. "So you can brood some more?" he asked, eliciting an irritated glance from Darkstalker. "You know, you really missed out on that last timeline." he continued, "There were dragons that looked like friggin' _salmon_!"

"Salmon?" Darkstalker asked. He had to admit, for the briefest moment, the SandWing had him genuinely intrigued, but he quickly shook it off. Whatever trouble these dragons got themselves into, it was hardly his problem.

"Why don't you come over and hang for a bit. _Clearly_ you've got nothin' better to do, and this game's got multiplayer." Hidden offered.

Darkstalker stared at the screen for a moment, a vibrant blocky world displayed across its surface. "Sounds like a waste of time to me." he said, walking off towards the archway.

"Hey, it'll be fun! Besides, I'm sure you could use a break from all that lonely singing."

Darkstalker snapped his head towards Hidden, glaring at him. Hidden grinned.

"Don't worry, I haven't been _spying_ on you. Trust me, _everyone_ can hear you in there." he said with a sly grin. Darkstalker took a slight step back, embarrassed, and Hidden chuckled.

A faint buzzing caught Darkstalker's attention, and he turned to see the makeshift Bippy 2 glide out from one of the adjacent hallways, a tall plastic bottle carried beneath it. It flew over his head, and hovered down next to Hidden, the SandWing grabbing the bottle from the drone and taking a large gulp of the water inside.

"So, you gonna join me or what?" Hidden asked, the drone flying back from whence it came.

"I think I'll pass." Darkstalker replied, turning once again to leave.

"Hey, uh, next timeline, you're coming out with us, okay?" Hidden stated as he started to step through the archway. Darkstalker paused, briefly turning back toward the SandWing with a raised brow, before walking off without another word.

"Oh, and while you're up there, could you ask Xavier if he wants to play Buildaria with me?! I'd text him, but we don't have…." Hidden shouted as Darkstalker left the hangar, his words trailing away as the NightWing walked up to an elevator.

Darkstalker sighed, stepping into the small metal box. He had half a mind to steal one of the shuttles and fly away from this ship as fast as possible, never to look back. But...where would he go? The multiverse wasn't exactly a very kind place to someone like...him.

The elevator door slid shut, and Darkstalker found himself staring at an all too familiar face in the shiny metal door. A NightWing, around 17 years of age, with twisting silver horns, jet black eyes, glowing cables draped between nodes spread across their body and plugged into the back of their jaw and talons, and two dull grey teardrop scales behind each eye.

The face of a failure.

_His_ face.

The elevator door slid open, and Darkstalker stepped out into the brightly lit hall. Rounding a corner, he arrived in a corridor with many small metal doors situated on either side, small metal placards labeling each bunk, one through eight.

Darkstalker slowly made his way down the hallway towards his room, Bunk 2, when he paused, turning towards Bunk 3, which sat on the opposite side of the hall as his, shifted one room over. The RainWing's bunk, if he remembered correctly.

He groaned, staring down at the floor for a moment, before begrudgingly making his way over to the bunk's thick steel door. He pounded three times on it, the bangs echoing down the hall, and soon enough it opened to reveal a slightly surprised RainWing standing on the other side.

"O-Oh! Darkstalker! Wh-What are you doing here?" Xavier hesitantly asked, likely wondering why the NightWing had bothered to see him.

"Your SandWing friend wants to play some game with you down in the hangar, Build...something….?" Darkstalker grunted, wondering why _he _was bothering with Xavier as well.

"Oh, Buildaria." Xavier finished. "I'll be down in a minute." He paused, looking up at Darkstalker. His wounds from a week ago had for the most part healed over, though small spots of his scales were scarred over, unable to change color, and there were still a couple small holes in his wing membranes.

"I-It's nice to talk to ya, we rarely get to see you is all." Xavier continued. The two stared at each other silently for a moment, before Darkstalker turned, walking off towards his bunk without another word.

The door slid shut behind him, sealing him inside of the small chamber. There were no windows in his bunk, just a bright white light hanging from the ceiling, a single, wall mounted cot, and an empty desk.  
Darkstalker sighed, flopping down onto the cot, the covers a tangled mess from never having been made in the week he had spent on them.

_Finally, alone._ he thought. He briefly remembered what Hidden had said earlier about hearing him in his bunk, and shuddered. _Not perfectly alone, perhaps, but one of the next best things in this moons forsaken vessel…._

"Warning! Slipline Drive overheating! Automated landing procedures initiated!"

The Salvation shook violently, tearing out of the spinning vortex and into yet another unknown timeline. Darkstalker groaned, and heard the sounds of doors opening in the hallway outside.

"What's this about?" Lin's muffled voice asked from the other side of the steel bunk door.

"Not sure, but it can't be good…." a second voice, Xavier's, replied. There was a brief pause, the faint sound of the Salvation's thrusters slowly diminishing as it came in for a landing, before the RainWing continued. "We should probably head up to the bridge, Ricky might know what's going on."

Darkstalker waited, snout buried in the messy sheets of his bed, as the sound of the two's talonsteps faded into the distance. He growled, debating for a moment whether to remain laying in the bunk, and let the others sort out whatever mess they had gotten themselves into, when he finally heaved himself up off of the cot. If something was wrong with the ship, then he might as well know what it was.

He pressed a button on the control pad next to the door, the steel barrier sliding out of the way as he stepped out into the hall. He slowly made his way down the hallway, in no particular rush, navigating the many corridors of the Salvation's upper levels towards the bridge.

"Hopping from timeline to timeline's just been so slow, so I thought we could just, you know, fly straight there!" Hidden explained, his voice echoing down the halls even before Darkstalker had reached the bridge. "I didn't know it'd fry the ship!"

"Haven't you been reading up on those...books, as you called them?" Lin asked.

"Yeah, but I hadn't exactly _gotten_ to that part yet."

_This'll be fun…._ Darkstalker thought to himself, stepping into the bridge. Every other passenger aboard the Salvation was already gathered inside of the chamber. Ricky stood over by the main console, Xavier and Lin standing to his right, Hidden to his left, and the two humans standing by the edge of one of the trenches.

Darkstalker's attention didn't fall upon the eclectic group, though, instead immediately turning towards the wide window that ran across three of the chamber's walls. Outside raged one of the fiercest snowstorms the NightWing had ever seen, so thick and turbulent that the outside world was virtually impossible to make out.

"Do you...know if it'll be up and running again?" Ricky asked.

Hidden shrugged. "It seems like the ship automatically took precaution to prevent any serious damage, though I wouldn't be surprised if we were stuck here for a little while. Uh, Dark? You okay?"

Darkstalker blinked, suddenly realizing that he'd walked right up to the window. He briefly turned towards the group, and then back at the freezing landscape ahead.

"Wh...Where are we…?" he asked, though he had a sinking feeling he knew the answer.

"Oh, we're deep in IceWing territory now." Hidden explained, "Pleasant, isn't it?"

Of all the places in all the timelines in the multiverse they could have ended up, it just _had_ to be the Ice Kingdom. Darkstalker felt a pulsating energy start to flow through him, the nodes along his body starting to glow with his frustration. He felt ready to turn around and head straight back to his bunk, but something strange caught his eye.

Beyond the billowing blizzard stood a tall, dark shadow, cloaked behind the violent veil of snow. At first, it was hard to make it out, but as the blizzard began to ease slightly, he was able to piece together a somewhat clearer image.

A tower, smooth and cylindrical, stretching up as far as the eye could see, with no visible endpoint. It looked alien, unnatural, like it didn't belong. There was something chilling about it, yet at the same time, something equally mysterious, and alluring.

The others seemed to have spotted it too, and had begun to step up next to him to stare out at the bizarre anomaly. Darkstalker grunted, shifting uncomfortably as they crowded up next to the sweeping window.

"Well, isn't that something." Hidden said with an excited grin.

* * *

**AN:**

**It's crazy to me how far I've come in this story so far. I don't want to give away too much yet, but be prepared for the craziest episode yet!**

**I hope you enjoy Darkstalker's POV, even if he is a bit...melodramatic. He'll be pretty pivotal in the finale.**

**Stay tuned!**


	34. Chapter 34: The Tower

**Chapter 34: The Tower**

* * *

**The Salvation**

**Hangar Bay**

Cold wind rushed into the Salvation's hangar as the rear bay door slowly lowered to the icy earth, the fierce snowstorm whipping by just outside. The air chilled Darkstalker to his bones, and he instinctively took a step back as the thick metal ramp crunched down on the snow covered ground.

"Why exactly are you doing this again?" Darkstalker asked, watching Hidden, Ricky and Xavier begin making their way down the ramp. The three dragons were wrapped in heaps of blankets from the Salvation's storage bay, though even that didn't seem to be enough to keep their teeth from chattering as they slowly edged into the frozen wasteland.

"I think you mean what exactly _we_ are doing." Hidden corrected, "You're coming too."

"And why exactly would I want to go out _there _with you, when I could stay nice and warm here instead." Darkstalker replied irritably. He heard the sound of metal talons clanging against the floor, and turned to see the Reggie-tron making a mad dash towards the bay door.

"Hold up guys!" Reggie shouted from within the mecha, skidding to a stop halfway down the hangar door.

"Careful Reggie, you don't wanna break that thing after it's just been fixed, do ya?" Hidden said as the robotic dragon stepped up next to the trio. Parts of its hull were covered in small welded on metal plates, scars from the damage it had taken a week or so prior.

"So Dark, you comin'?" Hidden continued, turning back towards the NightWing.

Darkstalker took another step back, ready to walk back to his bunk without another word, when a sudden force struck him in the back of his neck, sending him reeling down the large steel ramp. The freezing air hit him all at once, his teeth violently chattering as he sent energy cycling through the nodes on his body in a desperate attempt to keep warm.

He barely had enough time to turn back to see who had hit him, when a heavy pile of blankets landed on top of him, their weight nearly sending him to the floor. He quickly began wrapping them around his freezing black scales, turning angrily towards the hangar bay where Lin stood with a knowing grin, Maple standing at her side.

"Would you get going already!" the MudWing shouted, her voice partially drowned out by the howling wind just outside, "I've got some...things...I want to take care of, and it would be nice if you weren't here to get in the way!"

"Does anyone wanna ask what 'things' she's talking about?" Xavier muttered, Hidden and Ricky both shaking their heads in response. Darkstalker let out a low growl. He hated to admit it, but even he was a little intimidated by the EarthWing.

He turned, following the other four down the ramp, and casting one last spiteful glance back at the smug EarthWing.

He carefully set one of his foretalons onto the frozen earth, his claws sinking into the thick snow. Tiny sparks sputtered out of his mouth and talons as his mechanical attachments pulsated with energy to keep him warm beneath the thick cocoon of blankets. A corner of one blanket hung over one of his eyes, hampering his vision; and despite all of the coverings, he still felt uncomfortably cold, the few parts of him not covered feeling ready to freeze off completely.

The blizzard had let up slightly since they had first arrived, the mysterious tower's imposing shadow clearly visible in the distance. The other four had already begun making their way towards the structure, Darkstalker slowly trudging along at a distance behind them, just close enough to keep them in sight.

At some point, Hidden must have noticed that the NightWing wasn't keeping up with them, and to Darkstalker's grave disappointment, turned around and began trudging over next to him.

Darkstalker sighed, turning towards the SandWing. Hidden seemed to have at least twice as many blankets piled on top of him, his tail barb barely poking out of the mountain of coverings.

"Why are we doing this?" Darkstalker grumbled, "You said it yourself, the ship'll be up and running again soon, it's only a matter of time."

"You really think we're gonna find this _massive_ tower in the middle of nowhere and _not_ go check it out?" Hidden replied.

"Then why am _I_ doing this?" Darkstalker clarified. The last place he wanted to be was trudging through the frigid Ice Kingdom to check out some big tower.

"Let's see, you've been bunking with us, eating our food, _and_ received free medical treatment too. It's only fair that you start helping out for once, right?"

Darkstalker groaned. He didn't exactly see how tagging along on a pointless expedition was "helping out". He looked around at the bleak surroundings, and back at the massive tower, growing ever closer.

"We've gotta be far north of the Great Ice Wall, at least…." he mumbled.

"The great what now?" Hidden asked.

"The Great Ice Wall." Darkstalker explained, "It's a magic wall of ice the IceWings built along the border that kills any non-IceWings that try to get past."

Hidden paused, considering Darkstalker's statement. "Moons, I knew the IceWings were isolationist, but not _that_ much!"

Darkstalker briefly chuckled, before remembering a similar barrier that had been erected along the border of the Old Night Kingdom.

The others were already waiting by the time Darkstalker and Hidden arrived at the base of the tower, standing in the freezing weather before two massive metal doors. Their surfaces seemed perfectly polished, despite the ice and snow whipping past, as if they had just left the foundry. They each looked to be at least three times the dragons' height, if not more.

A holographic countdown was projected above the door, though it didn't seem to have any source, and appeared completely unphased by the violent weather. Just over five minutes remained, the seconds ticking down one by one.

"S-S-So wh-what now?" Xavier asked, teeth violently chattering beneath his heap of blankets. The group stared at the timer for a moment, watching it slowly tick down, before Hidden spoke up.

"I guess we just wait." he stated.

"_Wait?!_ Out _here?!_" Darkstalker hissed, feeling the cold creeping its way up his scales. "We'll freeze to death!"

"It's only a few minutes." Reggie commented from within the Reggie-tron. Darkstalker hated that name.

"_E-Easy for y-y-you to s-say…._" Xavier mumbled through his chattering teeth.

"Hey, it'll take us longer to walk back to the Salvation anyway, and once these doors open, it'll likely be warmer inside." Hidden casually explained, though even he was struggling to bear the cold.

"We don't know _what_ will happen when that timer runs out! For all we know, it could just kill us!" Darkstalker retorted through gritted teeth.

"_Yeah..._well, that _is_ a possibility. But I've got a pretty strong hunch that's not the case." Hidden said, gesturing to the doors, "I mean, _come on_."

Darkstalker growled in the back of his throat. These dragons were going to kill him, and all because of some random tower they'd just happened to come across. He sighed, at the very least, if he was dead, he wouldn't have to carry the heavy burden of his past any longer.

And what a fitting way to go out, too.

Ten seconds remained on the timer, the cold creeping up ever closer with each one lost. The blizzard began to pick up again, and one of the blankets wrapped around Darkstalker was ripped off, flying away into the white abyss.

The final second ticked by, the timer fading away, the doors firmly shut.

"See, I told you. Now can we go ba…."

A blinding light flashed before Darkstalker's eyes, and he instinctively recoiled, lifting his talons to shield his vision. The blankets covering his body began to fall to the ground, but strangely, Darkstalker felt no freezing wind slamming into his scales. He slowly lowered his talons, his eyes gradually adjusting to the shadowy darkness that now surrounded him.

At first, Darkstalker thought he had been blinded, the bleak white wasteland from before replaced by a seemingly endless void, though he quickly spotted the other four, looking just about as confused and bewildered as he was.

"What the moons…." Hidden mumbled, looking around, "Where are we?"

Darkstalker huffed out a small puff of smoke, ripping the blankets off of his body and tossing them to the cold stone brick floor that spread out beneath them. A slight chill was flowing through the air, though it was nothing compared to the frozen purgatory they had been standing in moments before. Still, something about this place unnerved Darkstalker, even more than the Ice Kingdom.

"A-Are we..._inside_ the tower?" Ricky asked, stretching his neck up to look around.

"_Probably?_" Hidden replied, "I have to say, I wasn't expecting that."

"Of _course_ you weren't…." Darkstalker grumbled, turning around to peer into the endless void that surrounded them.

"What're you lookin' at, Dark?" Reggie asked, still safe within the Reggie-tron.

"Isn't it obvious? Someone could be watching us!" Darkstalker explained through gritted teeth.

Hidden chuckled. "I thought you had that covered." he said with a smirk.

It took Darkstalker a moment to realize what Hidden had meat. He groaned, shifting his focus back to the void. He needed to be ready in case someone….

"Hello there."

"Yeaugh!" Darkstalker shouted, startled. He whirled around and leapt away, firing a bolt of white electricity out of his mouth towards the source of the voice. The speaker, rather than diving out of the way, casually deflected it with one of their foretalons, sending it flying off into the darkness.

"Oh, terribly sorry!" they said semi-apologetically, "I do have a bit of a habit of sneaking up on people. Though I'll admit that it was a bit _rude _of you to jump right to violence like that."

Darkstalker stared at the newcomer for a long moment. He was a NightWing, somewhere between twenty to thirty years of age. He looked rather ordinary, save for a bright red bow tie stuck to his chest, and a pair of small round spectacles over his snout.

"Woah, who are _you_." Hidden asked, walking up to the strange NightWing. "Are you like...one of those 'animus' things, or something?"

"Oh no, not at all." the stranger assured. They paused, inspecting their foretalons curiously, as if they were some sort of foreign object. "Goodness, what's it been, sixteen, seventeen years since we've last come to this multiverse?" they muttered to themselves.

Darkstalker began to approach the stranger, cautiously. No normal dragon could deflect a bolt of lightning with the swipe of a talon. But if he wasn't an animus, then what _was_ he?

"Well, I do believe that I must introduce myself." the stranger said, clearing his throat. "I am Winnifred, and I would like to welcome you to the Tower of Doom!"

Silence followed the strange NightWing's introduction, the group collectively taking a moment to process the information that had just been fed to them.

"Th-The...the Tower of..._Doom?_" Xavier asked.

Winnifred nodded, stepping aside to address all five of them. "Yes, it's a little...on the nose...perhaps. Though I wasn't the one to come up with it." he explained, "I simply work here as a..._guide_, if you will." He straightened out his back a little, gesturing to the endless void that encompassed them. "Here in the Tower, you will…."

"We'll take on various challenges as we ascend towards a reward at the top? Like a treasure dungeon?" Hidden interrupted, already growing giddier by the second.

"Er, yes, that's what I was about to explain." Winnifred replied, visibly irritated. "You will face a random number of random challenges on the path towards a random reward at the top of the Tower."

Hidden seemed to be just barely containing his excitement, and Darkstalker swore he heard him squealing with glee for a brief moment. Ricky seemed to be excited as well, and Darkstalker figured Reggie was feeling the same from within the Reggie-tron.

"_That_ sounds like a lot of random." Xavier stated skeptically, though even he seemed to be growing excited at the prospect of ascending the tower. "And uh, what happens to us if we _fail_ any of these challenges?"

"Oh, you have no need to worry." Winnifred reassured, "You will simply be removed from the Tower. No harm can come to you here."

The other four turned to each other, silently deliberating for a moment, before they nodded in affirmation. Darkstalker frowned.

"Now hold on." he began, taking a step towards Winnifred, who promptly took a warry step back. "What if we didn't _want _to partake in your…'challenges'?"

"If you're really not up for it, you _can _leave." Winnifred explained, eyeing Darkstalker cautiously, "Though, you may not have another chance to climb the Tower for quite some time."

The NightWing turned back to the rest of the group, gesturing towards a large metal box descending from the void above. "Now, if you please…." he said, stepping aside as the elevator touched down upon the stone floor. Its sliding metal doors opened, revealing a small compartment with light brown wood paneled walls, and a white and grey tiled floor.

Darkstalker turned, a large metal door similar to the one they had seen outside of the Tower having materialized behind them. The other four each cast it a cursory glance, before making their way towards the elevator. They all squeezed themselves in, one by one, Hidden pausing halfway to turn back to Darkstalker.

"Hey, Dark!" he shouted, "Come on!"

Darkstalker shook his head. "This seems like a _complete_ waste of time." he grumbled.

"_Come on!_ It'll be fun!" Hidden replied.

"Well I don't _have_ time for fun."

Darkstalker made his way over to the towering metal doors, and was mere moments from touching it when Hidden replied once again.

"Alright, have fun in the Ice Kingdom then!" the SandWing shouted.

Darkstalker froze, remembering the icy wasteland they had just escaped from. He shivered just at the thought of it, and while climbing the 'Tower of Doom' seemed utterly ridiculous, was it really all that worse than stepping out into that bitter cold again.

Darkstalker roared in frustration, punching the stone floor. He slowly turned around, striding over towards the crowded elevator, Hidden casting him a knowing grin. "This reward had _better_ be worth it." he hissed, as he squeezed himself into the packed chamber.

"Hey Winnie, you think you could…." Hidden started, gesturing towards the mess of blankets they had left on the floor.

Winnifred frowned at Hidden disapprovingly, and then at the piles of blankets. "Yes, your things will be taken care of." he sighed.

"Thanks!" Hidden shouted, squeezing himself into the elevator as its metal doors slid shut. Darkstalker winced, feeling rather uncomfortable packed into a room that seemed designed to hold three dragons at most, not five.

The elevator jerked, rising up into the void as it carried its occupants towards their first challenge, Darkstalker regretting his decision the whole way up.

* * *

**AN:**

**One of the challenges I face in writing these chapters is juggling so many characters at the same time. Some characters can often be left with few lines as the story focuses on the interactions of a couple throughout the chapter, and especially in this episode, there will be a lot of large group moments all throughout. Hopefully you're all enjoying Darkstalker's POV, I've been trying to seed in details about his past without giving away too much. I actually originally planned to have them visit the Tower of Doom way back in Lin's timeline, in the old version of this story before I rewrote the early chapters. They were going to get a user manual for the Salvation at the end, and that was how they were going to figure out how to pilot it. It's crazy to think about how much this story has changed in my mind over time, like how the original version's chaos timeline chapter was reworked into Episode 3's cyberpunk storyline **_**and**_** brought back for the end of Episode 4. Even long before I ever started writing, this story had gone through many iterations. In one of the original ones, Hidden at one point fights Shaggy in the SkyWing arena in an attempt to prevent the "Memepocolypse" from destroying all of Pyrrhia! It was some crazy, and utterly ridiculous stuff, and the Tower of Doom is actually a remnant of those early iterations of the story! It's just crazy to see how far this story has come, and how much further there still is to go!**

**Stay tuned!**


	35. Chapter 35: High Score

**Review Responses:**

**ThunderbladeN - "Thanks!" -Me**

* * *

**Chapter 35: High Score**

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**The Tower of Doom**

**Level 1**

The elevator ground to a halt, its metal doors slowly sliding open with a soft creak. One by one, the five occupants squeezed their way out of the cramped space, stepping into a somewhat large room, with a flat, dark blue carpeted floor and black painted walls, decorated with stars of various colors.

Darkstalker sighed, relieved to be out of that cramped elevator, and took in his surroundings. To his left was a small collection of round tables, shiny dark red cushions situated around each. A steaming pizza sat atop one of them, seemingly fresh out of the oven. Ahead of him was a large assortment of arcade games, archaic compared to the ones he'd seen in other timelines, but just as bright, gaudy, and loud. To his right was a prize counter, with large plushies and toys hung up on the wall, and a familiar looking NightWing standing behind the counter.

"Oh, Winnie! What are you doing here?" Hidden asked, walking over to the prize counter. The other three followed close behind, marveling at the new location as they went, leaving Darkstalker standing by the now closed elevator.

Winnifred narrowed his eyes at the approaching SandWing disapprovingly. "It's _Winnifred_. And if you think you will receive any help from me in this challenge, then you are sorely mistaken." he began, as Hidden rested his foretalons on the counter. "I am simply here to observe."

"Just didn't expect to see you again so soon, is all." Hidden replied. "But...you _said _you're a guide, right? So isn't it your job to...you know..._guide_ us?"

"You have all of the information you need at your disposal." Winnifred explained. "Now go on! You won't get any further speaking with me."

Hidden turned, he, Xavier and Ricky strolling over to the arcade games while Reggie walked his metal dragon suit towards the dining area.

"What's his deal anyway?" Darkstalker heard Xavier ask Hidden quietly, eliciting an annoyed glance from Winnifred. Hidden shrugged in response.

Darkstalker leaned against the back wall of the arcade, next to the shiny steel elevator doors, watching the trio of dragons disappear into the rows of arcade games. He wished the elevator doors would open back up again, and it would carry him out of this place, though he knew that wasn't going to happen. He'd made his decision, and now he had to live with it.

"This place is so much like Neon Dunes!" he heard Ricky fondly say.

"Yeah, except it's smaller, less crowded, and doesn't smell like puke." Hidden replied, "Hey Darkstalker! You gonna help us out or what?!"

Darkstalker sighed. He certainly didn't feel like stepping into the cluster of bright, noisy games with those three. _But if it'll get us out of here faster…._ he thought, as he slowly began to make his way to the arcade games.

"Hey, guys! Look at this!" Reggie shouted from the dining area. Darkstalker paused, halfway to the arcade games, and turned to join the others around the table with the freshly made pizza sitting atop it.

"See." Reggie said, pointing a metal claw at one of the steamy slices of pizza. Hidden reached down, sticking his claws into the thick coating of cheese, and pulled out a small slip of white paper.

"High score." he read aloud, as Ricky, Xavier, and Reggie leaned in for a closer look.

"I also found this." Reggie continued, passing Hidden a small, gold painted coin, when it slipped out of the Reggie-tron's metal talon, falling beneath the table. Hidden groaned, reaching down to pick up the token, and paused, examining it and the slip of paper carefully, lost in thought.

"W-What is it?" Xavier asked, but Hidden didn't reply. Instead, he made a beeline for the arcade games, inspecting each and every individual one. The others followed close behind, even Darkstalker, who was slightly curious as to what the SandWing had figured out. Once he'd checked every game, Hidden silently turned around, and walked back to one game in particular, a confident grin on his face.

"_Super Pinball Space Cadet_…." Xavier read aloud, inspecting the space themed machine curiously. "What about it?"

"Reggie, you only found the one token, right?" Hidden asked. The metal dragon nodded its head.

"_Right_, so assuming that the slip of paper is a clue, which it likely is, then it is most likely asking us to achieve a high score on one of these games." Hidden explained, "Most of the machines here give out tickets or prizes, and have no high score system, and of the remaining games that do, only one can be played with a single token." He gestured toward the pinball machine, grinning excitedly.

"You didn't just pick this one because you're good at pinball, did you?" Xavier asked skeptically, pacing about to examine the other high score based machines.

"_No_. Though I'll admit, it is a nice coincidence."

"So...do we play it?" Ricky asked, leaning down for a closer look at the array of tracks and bumpers beneath the thin sheet of glass.

Hidden held up the token, it's golden surface scratched and dulled, rocking it between his claws. "Might as well, unless you have any better ideas."

Hidden turned to each of the others, Ricky, Xavier and Reggie each shaking their heads, and Darkstalker turning to head back to the elevator. It wasn't like they needed his help to play pinball, and he'd much rather stand where it was slightly less noisy.

He rounded the corner of a crane game, the sound of Hidden slipping the token into the pinball machine barely audible over the cacophony of the other games, and froze.

It seemed to happen in the blink of an eye, less than that even. The noisy arcade was gone, replaced by a wide, flat chamber. The floor was slippery, and the room was slightly slanted, causing Darkstalker to lose his balance and begin sliding down towards a dark chute at the lower end. He quickly grabbed hold of a wide, circular column, only to be abruptly thrust back, sliding across the chamber until he was finally able to regain his balance.

_Wh-Where am I? What happened?!_ he thought, the nodes on his body starting to glow as he began to panic. He quickly noticed that Ricky, Xavier and Reggie were in the chamber alongside him, looking equally confused and frightened, and a quick look up immediately revealed what had happened to them.

"Guys? Guys! What the moons are you doing in there!" Hidden shouted, his giant head staring down at them from beyond the glass screen of the pinball machine. Darkstalker felt himself tense up at the sight of the gargantuan SandWing.

"I-I dunno...one second we were standing next to you, and the next…." Xavier began, but he was cut off by a loud snap. A giant metal ball, about as tall as Darkstalker was, launched out from behind one of the chamber's walls, bouncing off of a couple bumpers before careening down towards the four of them. Darkstalker dove out of the way, just as the oversized pinball flew past them and into one of the paddles, a quick button press by Hidden sending it flying right back at them.

"Hidden! Cut it out! You're going to kill us!" Xavier shouted, just as the pinball came rushing past him.

"I can't! I've gotta get more than a million points to beat the high score, and it only gave me one ball!" Hidden shouted back, his voice echoing through the machine. "Winnie said we can't get killed here though, so uh…."

Darkstalker rolled out of the way as the pinball came bouncing back once again, rapidly scanning the machine for a safe place to take cover. He scrambled over to the upper region of the cabinet, a mess of metal tracks hanging all about, and a stylized rocket ship towering above him. Yet no matter where he went, the pinball always seemed to come for him, and the others were clearly suffering from the same issue as well.

"This is _insane_! But, in a bad way." He heard Reggie shout over the crashing and banging of the pinball against the bumpers.

Darkstalker gritted his teeth, and spread his wings, attempting to take to the air and hover safely above the mayhem. Yet no matter how much he tried, he couldn't seem to build up any force beneath his wings, and could only manage short hops across the slippery floor.

_Great, my wings don't work. What next…._ he thought bitterly, turning to see the pinball launching up from the paddles towards him once again. _I should've flown off in one of the shuttles when I had the chance._

He stepped to the side, spinning around and slamming his tail into the pinball in frustration. Pain shot up through his tail, but he hardly cared, watching the pinball veer off to the side and up one of the curved ramps, it's trajectory altered by his impact. The pinball bounced about on a small upper level, a few brief chimes sounding off as points began racking up, and Darkstalker noticed the faces of the others staring at him.

"What?" he asked, his sore tail swishing behind him.

"Hey, Dark? Could you do that again?" he heard Hidden ask from above. Darkstalker shot him an annoyed glance, and Xavier quickly stepped in as the pinball began its descent.

"Ricky and I can handle the cutes, and Reggie can uh...he can guide the ball towards us." Xavier began, quickly coordinating the others before the next volley, "And Darkstalker…."

"I'll guard the chute." Darkstalker stated, already walking down between the two paddles at the lower end of the machine. He turned around, watching the other three take their positions, Xavier casting him a concerned glance, as the pinball neared the bumpers once again.

_Whap!_

Darkstalker didn't know how long he'd stood by the edge, his tail hanging over the abyssal chute at the end of the machine. The paddles whipped by, sending the pinball flying back up the machine as the other three carefully guided it down the highest point value routes.

_Ping! Ping! Pong!_

Darkstalker hadn't taken the time to consider the absurdity of his situation, and as he stood at the entrance to the bowels of the pinball machine, shrunken down to the size of a coin, it all started to sink in. Even when compared with all the other things he'd seen and experienced in his travels across the multiverse, this was easily one of the most ridiculous.

"Darkstalker, watch out!"

The sight of the pinball rolling straight towards him snapped Darkstalker out of his train of thought. He sprinted forward, slamming into the pinball with all of his might as he dug his talons into the slippery slope in an attempt to slow its descent. His rear talons were halfway over the edge of the chute, when the ball finally stopped rolling, and Darkstalker carefully rolled it back up a bit to give himself a little more space.

"Alright." he said through gritted teeth, energy surging through the cables draped across his body, small sparks of electricity seeping out of the nodes embedded in his talons.  
Darkstalker pulled back his foretalons for a brief moment, and slammed them into the metal ball with tremendous force, sending it flying back up the machine, supercharged with electricity. It plowed past the many bumpers scattered about, and straight into an opening on the rocket ship, sparks flying upon impact. The lights within the machine flared up, some bursting as a surge of electricity flowed through them.

The pinball slowly rolled back out of the rocket, and straight back down towards Darkstalker. He readied himself to leap out of the way, but felt himself growing lightheaded after such a large burst of energy. His legs began to buckle, as the giant pinball readied to send him straight down into the chute, when a force slammed into the side of his body, sending him sliding over in front of one of the paddles.

Darkstalker squinted, seeing Xavier lying on the slippery floor beside him. "Woah, you...you alright Dark?" the RainWing asked.

Darkstalker grunted in response, struggling against his growing lightheadedness, when the interior of the pinball machine abruptly vanished, replaced by the rows of bright arcade games.

Darkstalker struggled to his feet, and the four of them gathered around Hidden and the pinball machine, staring at the high score display. The previous high score was a clean 1,000,000 points; theirs was 1,201,450.

"Easy!" Hidden exclaimed, slapping talons with Ricky, Xavier and Reggie. He turned to Darkstalker, who shook his head, stepping off to the side to regain his bearings.

"Well, that was an..._interesting_ way of doing it."

The group turned to see Winnifred walking over to them, clearing his throat. "Anyhow, congratulations on beating the first challenge. Now if you would follow me…."

"Come on guys!" Hidden excitedly shouted, barreling past Winnifred with Ricky and Reggie right behind him. Xavier passed by next, casting the bow-tied NightWing an apologetic glance, leaving Darkstalker standing alone with him.

"I can see why you're so fed up with them. I can't imagine how you put up with their antics." Winnifred stated.

"Yeah, whatever." Darkstalker groaned, stepping past the spectacled NightWing to join the others by the elevator doors. The metal doors slowly slid open, Hidden turning to Darkstalker as the others stepped in.

"See, that wasn't so bad."

Darkstalker sighed. "How many more of these do we have to go through?"

"Dunno, but I'm sure the next one will be fun."

Hidden stepped into the crowded elevator, Darkstalker stepping in shortly thereafter, the elevator doors sliding shut as the arcade disappeared from view.

* * *

**AN:**

**So just before I posted this, I got sidetracked looking back at all of the old stories that I had started writing and never finished. I was surprised at how decent my writing was back then, and it was cool to take a look at all of these old stories that never saw the light of day, and how they contributed to this one.**

**On another note, I've said before how I really hate asking for people to leave reviews. It feels like when YouTubers do the whole "Be sure to like and subscribe and leave a comment!" thing, which I personally try to avoid doing, as I believe in gaining attention through the merit of my story alone. That said, I do think it could help my confidence in writing this story if people told me what they think of it as it goes along. If you don't have anything to say, then don't feel pressured to leave a review, though I would really appreciate to hear your thoughts if you have some to share!**

**That said, the next chapter is one I've been waiting for for a **_**long**_** time. Stay tuned!**


	36. Chapter 36: Debut

**Review Responses:**

**smoreyofhyrule - Thanks for the review, and about the whole alternate versions of themselves thing, they've already met an alternate version of Ricky, and another could be on the way too! You also touched on an idea that I came up with an interesting explanation for with the whole other Salvation thing, though I don't plan on bringing it up just yet.**

**Pt35 - If you thought that last chapter was absurd, then just you wait for this one! In all honesty though, this and the next one or two chapters will be the last truly ridiculous ones, after this the story will get a lot more serious as it winds up to the finale. The Tower of Doom is really a way to have some fun putting the characters in crazy situations they'd never get into in the rest of the story. Too bad Darkstalker's being such a buzz kill though...**

* * *

**Chapter 36: Debut**

* * *

**The Tower of Doom**

**Level 3**

The elevator doors slid open, and Darkstalker lunged out of the cramped chamber, gasping for air as he shook off the translucent slime that covered most of his body. The others were no better off, their talons squelching as they trudged out of the slimy elevator.

"Moons, who knew ghost dragons could be so _gross_…." Reggie said, the mecha's movements stilted as ectoplasm gummed up its joints.

"Honestly, I figured we were gonna get even more slimed up." Hidden stated, picking some of the translucent slime out of his frills. "Gotta admit though, suckin' 'em up with those giant vac-packs was pretty cool."

Darkstalker lightly chuckled, slowly getting to his feet as ghost slime dripped from the cables draped across his body. "You're insane." he said, turning to Hidden.

"Only a little."

"That _moonsforesaken_ challenge was not _fun_." Darkstalker growled, taking a step towards Hidden as he wiped some slime off of his snout before it could reach his mouth.

"_Yeah_...not as fun as watching you run around throwing out your lightning like a headless chicken." Hidden slyly replied, smirking. Darkstalker heard muffled snickering coming from the Reggie-tron, and quickly shot it a glare.

"Come on Dark, we're in the _Tower of Doom!_ Lighten up a little, would ya?" Hidden said, gesturing with slimy talons to the room the elevator had taken them to. "Speaking of which, what _is_ this place?"

The room had a smooth, grey concrete floor, with red brick walls and a vibrant red carpet near its center. Shiny black, grey, and white seats were positioned about, bright white light beaming down from ceiling hung lamps. The most prominent item in the room was a large white tapestry depicting a dragon talon holding a microphone while making a peace sign.

"Looks like some kinda' lounge." Ricky stated as he observed one of the seats, hesitant to touch it with his slimy talons.

Darkstalker looked around skeptically. The chamber was a nice change of pace, compared to the noisy arcade and disgusting haunted manor of the prior two challenges; but knowing this tower, something could be waiting just around the corner to ruin his day even more than it already had been.

"Oh, good. You've arrived." a familiar voice stated, rather unenthusiastically. The group turned to see Winnifred entering through a pair of double doors, a look of disgust emerging on his face as he noticed their slimy state.

"Right, we should probably get..._that_ all sorted out." Winnifred stated, snapping his talons. Darkstalker felt a light gust of wind blow across him, the ectoplasm gradually freeing from his scales and disappearing into thin air. He looked himself over, any trace of the translucent goop having vanished, even from the harder to reach areas.

"Oh, uh...thanks Winnie!" Hidden said.

Winnifred cast Hidden a quick unamused glance, before smiling as he turned to the group as a whole. "Well, we couldn't have you all gummed up for your big debut, now could we?" The group stared at the bow-tied NightWing in silence, not fully understanding what exactly he was talking about.

"Now then." Winnifred continued, "Which one of you is the best singer."

Darkstalker froze, for the briefest moment feeling a wave of embarrassment wash over him. He quickly shook it off, an amused grin spreading across his face. _First we're nearly killed by a giant pinball machine, then we have to fight a horde of slimy ghosts, and now this? _he thought. He felt almost ready to laugh at the sheer ludicracy of it, when he noticed the other four pointing their talons at him.

"Wha...n-no! Absolutely not!" Darkstalker stuttered, backing away from the group.

"We've all heard you dude, your voice is incredible! Own it man!" Reggie replied encouragingly. Darkstalker was having none of it.

"If you think that I'm going to sing for you, then you'd have to be..."

"Insane? I thought we'd already established that." Hidden interrupted. "How about a vote! All in favor of Darkstalker doing whatever this singing challenge is…."

Hidden, Ricky and Reggie quickly raised their talons, Xavier hesitantly raising his under Darkstalker's imposing glare.

"This is ridiculous!" Darkstalker shouted defensively, his mechanical implants pulsating as embarrassment and frustration swept through him, "You're the ones who want this...this _prize_, whatever it is! Leave me out of…."

Before Darkstalker could finish, he realized that he was no longer standing inside of the lounge, instead finding himself in a dark hallway, a blindingly bright stage just ahead. Winnifred stood before him, impatiently watching the NightWing take in his new surroundings.

"Wait...no no no...this isn't…?" Darkstalker began, a slight wave of fear bubbling up inside of him. He tried his best to suppress the feeling, it was beneath him, yet the rapidly pulsating nodes on his body betrayed his emotions.

"I could tell that that argument was going nowhere." Winnifred stated bluntly, "Now if you would so kindly step up to the stage and…."

"Hold on, didn't you hear me back there?" Darkstalker interrupted, "I don't have to do this!"

Winnifred grinned. "Well, your friends seemed to think otherwise."

Darkstalker growled. This pompous NightWing was getting on his nerves. "They are _not_ my friends, and do you really think I care what they say?"

"No, but it was rather clear that you were outnumbered and outspoken in that situation, and I _do_ have a job to do."

"Oh, right. The job ordained by your _high and mighty tower?_"

"The Tower of Doom does as it pleases, and is not privy to the laws of your multiverse, and especially not to your personal wishes. And right now, it seems quite excited to hear you sing, though I personally can't see why. You don't strike me as the vocal type."

Darkstalker scoffed. _Who does this guy think they are, talking about this tower as if it were alive?_ He looked about the hallway, the noise of a sweeping crowd of onlookers echoing in from the bright stage beyond. _Then again, there are weirder things out there._ he thought, remembering some of his trips to the furthest reaches of the known multiverse.

He turned, noticing Winnifred walking back to a set of double doors at the other end of the hall. "You'll want to get four chair turns, so give it your all." he explained as he left.

"What am I even supposed to sing?!" Darkstalker shouted as the NightWing opened one of the doors.

"Whatever you want! The Tower will figure out the rest!" he shouted back, before disappearing behind the doorway.

Darkstalker shifted uncomfortably, peering out at the stage as he debated following Winnifred through the doors. He took a hesitant step forward, and then another, his eyes slowly adjusting to the blinding light of the main stage.

The chamber was massive, its true size masked by the glare of the spotlights beaming down upon him. The stage was a large checkerboard square, flanked by two massive statues of the same peace-signed talon holding a microphone as was on the tapestry in the lounge. Four chairs lined up in front of the stage, facing away from him, digital screens displaying the names of their occupants.

_Queen Thorn, Queen Ruby, Queen Coral, and Queen Glacier._ Darkstalker read in his head, _Certainly an interesting lineup._ He wasn't sure why they were all Queens, and was _pretty_ sure Glacier died of a certain plague in most timelines. Either way, it was slightly unnerving to be in the same room as her, as large as it was.

Darkstalker stood at center stage, staring out at the darkened crowd spread about before him, hushed murmurs passing about as they waited to see what he would do next. The nodes on his body were pulsating faster than ever, sparks of electricity seeping out of them from time to time.

_I could just throw the challenge._ he thought, _I could fail this, have us sent back out of the Tower, and be done with it._ He sighed. Even if he did, he'd still wind up back in the frozen wasteland of the Ice Kingdom.

He took a deep breath, the pulsating of the nodes diminishing, and….

"_Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep._"

"_Dreaming about the things that we could be._"

"_But, baby, I've been, I've been praying hard._"

"_Said no more counting scales, we'll be counting stars._"

"_Yeah, we'll be counting...stars…._"

Music erupted to life as the Tower of Doom caught on to Darkstalker's lyrics and began playing the background medley for the song. Darkstalker wasn't phased in the slightest, though. He'd already tuned out the outside world, just as he had back on the Salvation when he'd been introduced to this very song, and so many others, by the SkyWing's PDA.

Darkstalker continued into the next verse, his voice gliding along each note as he strung words together into medley, his mind at ease for the first time since he'd entered this dreadful tower.

The sudden burst of light from Coral's chair turning briefly took him out of the moment, the SeaWing queen's beaming face eagerly turning to face him before her seat had even finished turning, but he quickly shrugged her off. He'd become quite good at ignoring loud noises from the bashing and banging that often came from the Salvation's hangar.

"_Lately I've been, I've been losing sleep._"

"_Dreaming about the things that we could be._"

"_But, Baby, I've been, I've been praying hard._"

"_Said no more counting scales, we'll be counting stars._"

Darkstalker had to imagine that Hidden and co. were watching him right then, though he quickly cast those thoughts away. It wasn't like there was anything to hide from them.

At least, nothing to do with _this_.

The next chair turned, Ruby, this time. She stared at Darkstalker, looking somewhat surprised at his appearance, but bobbing her head along to the music nonetheless.

"_And I, feel something so wrong, when doing the right thing._"

"_I couldn't lie, couldn't lie, couldn't lie._"

"_Everything that drowns me makes me wanna fly._"

The crowd appeared to be clapping their talons along with the beat of the music now, and another chair turned, Thorn. That just left one more.

_Of course she's the last one. IceWings are always hard to please…._ Darkstalker thought deep down inside, as his body continued to sing beyond his volition. He heard the sound of talonsteps running up behind him onto the stage, and had a sinking feeling he knew who it was, though he didn't bother to turn his head.

If they wanted to share in his embarrassment, then so be it.

"_Oh, take that money and watch it burn._"

"_Sink in the river, the lessons I've learned._"

"_Take that money and watch it burn._"

"_Sink in the river the lessons I've learned._"

Darkstalker wasn't sure how Hidden and the others had weaseled their way into singing backup for him, but deep down, it almost felt nice to have them back there.

_Yeah, sure it does._ he thought, wondering if some of the ghost slime had seeped into his brain and hadn't been cleaned out.

"_Everything that kills me...makes me feel alive._"

With the swift upbeat, the final chair turned, Glacier staring at Darkstalker with a disapproving frown on her face, as if she'd only pressed her button because the other three queens had.

Regardless, it meant they'd won, and Darkstalker couldn't stop the faint bubbles of elation from peeking through.

His voice swept out over the entire chamber, vigor coursing through him as the nodes along his body let out electrical bolts of triumph. He hated to admit it, but he was having just a _tiny_ bit of fun.

He'd make sure Hidden paid for this.

The song finished, and the crowd roared, Coral, Ruby and Thorn giving him a standing ovation. Even Glacier had donned a half smile, which frankly looked more unsettling than it did reassuring.

Darkstalker felt a force of talons come down on his shoulders as Hidden jumped up behind him, wrapping a foreleg around his back.

"See! We told you you were good! That was awesome!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure…." Darkstalker grumbled, pushing Hidden off of him. He stepped over to the side, Hidden eyeing him with a knowing smirk.

"_Come on!_ Admit it! You had fun!"

Darkstalker didn't respond, silently watching as a NightWing wearing a red bowtie and spectacles stepped up onto the stage.

"Well, I'll admit, you had me quite surprised." Winnifred said to Darkstalker, "Though, I guess I should have known better than to doubt the Tower's judgement."

He turned to address the group as a whole, a relieved grin on his face. "This next challenge will be your final one, and a good deal harder than the previous three at that." he explained, seemingly holding back his glee at the prospect of bidding farewell to their group. "I won't be able to guide you on this one, so the best I can do is wish you good luck!"

The stage lurched, and slowly began to rise into the air, Winnifred stepping off to watch them ascend into the pitch black ceiling. The darkened stands of spectators spread out below them, before disappearing completely as they rose into the darkness.

"Alright guys, get ready!" Hidden said eagerly, clapping his foretalons together and rubbing them in anticipation. "We're in the endgame now!"

* * *

**AN:**

**I've had this chapter in mind for a **_**long**_** time, it was the first of the challenges I came up with, and I've been trying to seed setup for it into previous chapters. Honestly though, I just like the idea that I can say that Darkstalker sings Counting Stars on The Voice in my story, and it kind of makes sense in the context of it.**

**I had a bit of a crisis while writing this chapter, wondering if I should just rewrite everything all over again, better fleshing out the characters, improving the dialogue, and adding more details that I missed, though I also have some doubts about the finale and want to get feedback on it before I do so. I do plan on rewriting this story, though not for a while, after it's finished and I've had a bit more experience writing. Who knows? Maybe I could even send Tui some fan mail once it's finished to see what she thinks?**

**The final challenge approaches! Will Darkstalker and the others be able to beat it? Stay tuned!**


	37. Chapter 37: The Horde

**Review Responses:**

**itsblippingJBH - I'm glad it works! I was a little worried it would be too out of nowhere, so I really tried to set it up in previous chapters.**

**Pt35 - I tried to put a little of that confrontation in this chapter, but because of the tight schedule with its release, I didn't exactly have the time to put a lot of thought into an interaction like that. Maybe in the rewrite I could expand upon it, along with every other interaction in this story, though that's still a ****_long_**** ways away.**

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**Chapter 37: The Horde**

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**The Tower of Doom**

**Level 4**

The stage ground to a halt, the bright white grid that had once adorned it having disappeared during the dark ascent. Light flickered from dim fluorescent bulbs hung from the brown brick ceiling of a wide, arched tunnel. The walkway was paved with smooth concrete, the path forward slightly curved, obstructing the view of what lay ahead.

Darkstalker watched Ricky, Xavier and Reggie step off of the dark stage, and quickly grabbed Hidden by the frills before he could join them.

"Ah! What...hey!" Hidden shouted in protest as Darkstalker held him in place.

"Listen here _SandWing!_" Darkstalker snarled, "I've had it with all this _fun_ nonsense. You're gonna pay for what you did to me back there!"

Hidden grinned, and before Darkstalker could react, he'd latched onto Darkstalker's foreleg, spinning out of his hold and knocking Darkstalker's legs out from under him with his rear talons. The NightWing tumbled to the stage floor, smoke swirling out of his nostrils as he glared up at Hidden.

"Looks like all that battle training with Lin's starting to pay off." Hidden said with a smirk, stepping down to join the others. "Now could you wait to have your vengeance 'till _after_ we're done here. We've still got one more challenge ahead of us, you know."

Darkstalker growled, scrambling to his feet, and stepped off of the stage to join the others. He noticed Xavier holding back a chuckle, and shot the RainWing a glare, picking up his pace to take the lead.

"Let's just get this over wi…." Darkstalker began, before promptly walking face first into an invisible wall. He fell back, rubbing his sore snout as he irritably watched the ripples of his impact spread across the invisible forcefield to the sides of the tunnel.

This time, the other's couldn't hold back their snickering.

Darkstalker slowly got back to his feet once more, staring up at bright white text sprawled across the barrier reading **Waiting for Players**.

"So, what do you think this challenge will be?" Ricky asked, stepping up next to Darkstalker. The others followed suit, and the text quickly vanished, replaced by a ten second countdown.

"Some kind of obstacle course, perhaps?" Xavier asked, nervously looking up at the numbers slowly ticking away.

"Race you to the end." Hidden said with an excited grin, dropping down as he prepared to sprint.

The last second ticked away, a loud siren sounding off the start of the challenge, and the other four shot off down the hallway. Darkstalker sighed, and sprinted off after them. He briefly hopped into the air, attempting to catch a little air beneath his wings, but just as in the pinball machine and ghost house, they were utterly useless.

_Typical._

Darkstalker could see the others just ahead of him, as they continued down the curved hallway. He could have sworn that they were running in circles, the same brown brick flashing by in an endless spiral. He was about ready to stop, and wait for them to run back up behind him, when he heard the faint sound of electronic dance music echoing off of the curved brick walls.

The others seemed to have noticed as well, and had picked up their pace enthusiastically. Darkstalker shook his head, and sped up as well. He couldn't let that SandWing upstage him again, could he?

The music steadily began to grow louder, at first no more than a faint thrumming, but soon growing to a soft beat in the background. Every now and then he'd catch bright colors flashing across the walls in the corner of his eye, and were the bricks..._shaking?_

The tunnel began to straighten out, the path ahead cloaked in darkness. The music had grown to a mild roar now, beating through Darkstalker's head. The brown bricks were jittering wildly, and Darkstalker half expected them to start falling out of place. Vibrant colors danced across the walls, streaming towards the empty abyss at the end of the tunnel in a dazzling display.

The bricks began to fade away into darkness, and Darkstalker felt the ground fall out from underneath his talons as he leapt out into the abyss after the others. For a brief moment, the music grew silent, and Darkstalker wondered if they'd somehow failed the challenge.

Right on the beat drop, color surged fourth, blanketing the abyss in a bright spasm of light. Colorful beams light shone out from all sides, as if giant spotlights were hung just beyond the nebulous sky. Floating streams of water reflected the rays of light, casting swirling dots of color all about. In the distance, large chunks of buildings and roads floated about, a city torn to shreds amidst the chaos.

The barrage of lights and colors temporarily stunned Darkstalker, and he felt himself slam down onto a hard platform, rolling over onto his side. He groaned, his muscles aching from the sudden impact, and clambered to his feet for the third time.

He'd landed on a flat, glassy platform, its color rapidly shifting along with the music. An innumerable number of similar platforms floated about, dancing and twirling as the ear piercing wail of EMD blasted across the chaotic plane.

Darkstalker felt like he'd entered the mind of a hyperactive RainWing that had accidentally eaten a poisonous jungle frog. He could hardly get his senses straight amidst the cacophony, just barely hearing Hidden call out to him from up ahead.

"Come on Dark! You wanna finish this or what?!" the SandWing shouted, he and the others hopped across the platforms towards the torn up city beyond.

Darkstalker grunted, steadying himself on the thin platform, another drifting over closer to him, and leapt out over the endless void below. He just barely managed to land on the next platform, his rear talons scraping against the edge as he scrambled to regain his balance.

The next few platforms weren't much easier, especially without the help of his wings, yet Darkstalker eventually managed to scramble up onto a large chunk of highway drifting on the edge of the shattered city.

He paused to look around, half of a skyscraper drifting overhead, its glass paned walls glimmering in the flashy light show. Darkstalker swore he saw a dark shadow streak past the glass, but he shook his head, rubbing his eyes. He'd be surprised if this challenge didn't make him blind.

The others were nowhere to be seen, likely already deep within the city. The music continued to play on relentlessly, and Darkstalker sprinted across the rest of the fractured highway, leaping onto the side of a building that happened to be drifting by.

The further he went, the faster the debris seemed to become. Darkstalker barely managed to roll out of the way as a thick I-beam swung down towards him, scraping across the floating roof he was standing on and spraying bits of concrete up into the air.

He shielded his eyes from the spray, and as he lowered his talons, he noticed a dark figure perched on a floating mailbox just a short distance away. It had a vaguely human shape, though it seemed almost as tall as he was. Its body was pitch black, with colorful bars of light twisting across it, pulsating along with the music. It seemed to have no face, yet its stare was chilling nonetheless.

Sparks of electricity began seeping from the nodes along Darkstalker's body, as he felt his muscles tense up at the sight of the bizarre creature. He looked around, noticing another balanced atop a brass lamp post to his right, two more stalking him from the left.

"Stay back!" he growled, eyeing the creatures warily, "You don't know who you're messing with!"

The creature on the mailbox didn't seem to care, and leapt off in tandem with the music's beat, spinning through the air and extending one of its legs for a dive kick. Darkstalker quickly raised his foretalons, blocking the attack, and sent energy surging through the cables into his jaw, letting loose a stream of electricity from his mouth. The assailant was sent flying back, but before Darkstalker could celebrate his victory, two more had fallen upon him.

Darkstalker spun around, throwing the creatures off of him as he unleashed a surge of electricity from the nodes on his body. Yet still more came. No matter how many he pounded with a supercharged talon, fried with a burst of white hot lightning, or threw over the edge into the abyss below, more quickly came to take their place.

He saw one of the creatures sliding down to attack from below, and attempted to crush it beneath one of his talons, but it quickly rolled out of the way, swiping one of its legs across his snout. He spun around, swatting it away with his tail, only for another to dive in from above, smashing his head against the roof's hard pavement.

More and more of the creatures surged toward him. Darkstalker desperately fired off blasts of electricity, but he could already feel himself growing weak. Even in a combat situation, he could only go on for so long.

One of the creatures drove its knee straight into his lower jaw, nearly sending Darkstalker over the edge as he fell to the ground. Pain erupted through his jaw, despite it surprisingly not feeling broken. His mind began to slip, his eyelids growing heavy as the dark figures began to close in on him, when he heard the sound of someone shouting in the distance.

"Eat some of this suckers!"

A flash of pale yellow scales slammed into one of the creatures, sending it flying back into another of its comrades. Darkstalker watched helplessly as Hidden fought off the horde of adversaries, ducking back as two attempted to dive upon him and slamming them into the ground.

The creatures began to fall back, cautiously watching the newcomer from the edge of the rooftop. Hidden grinned, turning to Darkstalker and extending a talon down towards him.

"Come on, we've gotta catch up to the others!"

Darkstalker groaned, rolling over onto his stomach as he struggled to stand up. "Wh...why…? Why did you come back…?"  
"Hey, we wouldn't have made it this far without you." Hidden replied, "We're _all _making it to the top of this tower, whether you like it or not!"

Darkstalker eyed Hidden's extended talon, and shook his head, sighing. "Why won't you just leave me alone for once?" he asked, slowly standing up on his own, casting warry glances to the creatures surrounding them. Pain still throbbed through his body from the onslaught moments prior.

"'Cause it's fun to bug you." Hidden bluntly stated, "_And_ because you looked miserable locked up in that bunk."

"_I'm still miserable!_" Darkstalker replied irritably.

"And whose fault is that?" Hidden asked with a sly grin. He lunged toward the dark creatures, leaping over their heads towards a section of roadway drifting by. "The end is just up ahead! This'll all be over with before you know it!"

"Let's hope so…." Darkstalker grumbled, leaping off of the rooftop after Hidden, as the dark creatures surged after them.

* * *

**AN:**

**This week's been way to busy for me, with tons of school stuff to do and the ACT, so I only just got started writing this chapter on Thursday. I decided to cut it short and finish up this episode in the next chapter so I wasn't pushing myself too hard. I feel at times like the pacing is going too fast and that I should slow down on some of the character moments a bit, though I've come up with the idea that this story is only a rough draft, designed to put the story out there and see what people think. Then I start worrying that thinking about it that way will cause the quality of the story to drop and that I'll put less effort into it, and I get into an infinite loop of wondering how much time and effort I should be putting into it. Do I continue with my one chapter per week schedule, even if I've got so much else going on right now and it could result in somewhat rushed chapters? I really want to finish this, and even at this pace that might not happen until March. I could change it to a chapter every two weeks, or simply upload them when they're ready. It would probably help with burnout, and give me more time to flesh out the chapters. Though I'm still reluctant to do so. What do you think, should I slow down on the current release schedule?**

**On another note, this particular challenge was pretty hard to describe in text. In my mind, it's a crazy run through an abstract dubstep world where the characters have to move along with the beat of the music (the visuals would be something like the climax of **_**Into the Spiderverse**_**, but even crazier). That's a little tricky for me to describe in text with my current writing skills, so I decided upon a somewhat more grounded layout, with an array of moving platforms as the first section of the course, and a torn up city as the second. The strange creatures that attack Darkstalker are also a callback to one of the crazy parts of the original version of this story (the one from long before I'd started writing on this site).**

**The next chapter will be the conclusion of the team's adventures in the Tower of Doom! What reward awaits them at the top? Stay tuned!**


	38. Chapter 38: To The Top

**-NOTICE-**

**For some reason, the site was bugging out. I'm trying to get this chapter to upload right, hopefully it works this time.**

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**Chapter 38: To The Top**

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**The Tower of Doom**

**Level 4**

Darkstalker leapt off of a thin chunk of pavement, the concrete shattering into pieces behind him as it collided with the top half of a building floating nearby. He landed on a long strip of black roadway, dropping to the asphalt and rolling beneath a thick steel beam that came sweeping towards him.

Darkstalker stood, panting, and briefly turned to look behind him. The bizarre creatures were in hot pursuit, their shadowy forms leaping and diving through the floating debris in time with the music.

He sighed, and continued sprinting down the roadway. Hidden was a little ways ahead, leaping off of glass paned walls and swinging off of overhanging streetlights with an excited grin plastered on his snout. The SandWing cast a quick glance back at Darkstalker, and slowed his pace, until he and the NightWing were running side by side along a lopsided building.

"Better hurry up, those things don't look happy!" Hidden shouted to Darkstalker over the booming music.

"What even are they anyway?!" Darkstalker shouted back.

"I dunno, dubstep space ninjas?!"

"_What?!_"

"Your guess is as good as mine!"

The duo leapt into a wide concrete sewer pipe, sliding on their bellies down the smooth stone tunnel and falling out onto a grassy chunk of land with a single park bench hanging precariously over the edge.

Two of the creatures leapt off of the top of the pipe and dove down towards them, Darkstalker stunning them with a blast of electricity and Hidden leaping in to sweep them over the edge with his tail.

"I don't need your help." Darkstalker growled, warily eyeing the horde surging over the fractured rooftops.

"But, at the same time, you kinda do." Hidden remarked back, before leaping off of the grassy island onto a long strip of floating sidewalk. Darkstalker snorted out an irritated puff of smoke, and leapt up after him.

As the two continued further through the torn up city, the debris began to stretch and contort, streaming out towards a bright point of light further ahead. Buildings and roads blurred as they were pulled towards the light, their surfaces becoming increasingly indistinguishable in the distance.

"There it is!" Hidden shouted enthusiastically. He quickly picked up his pace, forcing Darkstalker to pick up his as well.

The terrain began to level out the closer they came to the light, the fragmented platforms fusing into long strands of unknown material that flashed and pulsated along with the music. The creatures were still on their tails, and in addition, colorful bolts of energy rained down from an unknown source, small bursts battering the terrain like hail while long thin tendrils swept about.

Darkstalker could barely manage to avoid most of the onslaught, a few stray energy bolts striking him with searing pain, despite not causing any physical damage to his body. Occasionally, one of the creatures would catch up to him, forcing him to divert his attention to blasting it with some of his lightning.

_This'll all be over soon. _he thought, staring ahead at the bright light, now engulfing most of his vision. _And then you'll be done with this madness…._

One of the creatures grabbed hold of his tail, but Darkstalker ignored it, the light mere moments away. Another landed on his back, grabbing his shoulder with one arm while it swiped at his head with the other. Darkstalker could feel his pace slowing, the weight of the dark creatures weighing him down as more surged toward him.

"Hold on!"

Darkstalker felt a pair of talons grab one of his forelegs, turning to see Hidden standing just in front of him. The SandWing crouched down, throwing all of his body weight into hurling Darkstalker forward, out of the grasp of the horde. The SandWing leapt after him shortly after, the two diving into the blinding light, leaving the final gauntlet of the Tower of Doom behind them.

* * *

**The Tower of Doom**

**?**

Darkstalker groaned.

His muscles felt like they were ready to fall right off of his body, his legs aching from exhausting almost all of residual energy he had left in the final challenge. He clawed at the ground, struggling to get to his feet, hearing the scratching of his talons against the rough stone brick floor.

"You made it!" Darkstalker heard Ricky shout. He opened his eyes, squinting ahead at the dark chamber around him. The SkyWing was standing over next to the RainWing and mechanical dragon, casting a relieved smile at the almost equally exhausted Hidden.

"You alright?" Xavier asked, noticing the two of them gasping for air. He and Ricky seemed only mildly tired, Reggie likely sitting in his dragon suit just fine.

"Yeah, we're...*_wheeze*_...fine." Hidden gasped. "_Three moons _this guy is…_*huff*_…heavy."

Darkstalker glared up at Hidden, and slowly managed to get to his feet. He stood up straight, suppressing any signs of exhaustion to the best of his ability.

"So, did we win?" he asked impatiently, looking around at their surroundings.

They were in a large, circular chamber, with a stone brick floor and smooth stone walls that seemed to be about the same diameter as the tower as they had seen it from the outside. It was quite dark, save for a soft light emanating from the top of a long spiral stairway winding around the side of the chamber.

Hidden immediately rushed over to the stairway, Darkstalker striding over after him, eager to get this over with. The glass nodes embedded in his talons clinked against each stone step as he made his way up, the other three following close behind him.

They emerged onto a flat, stone platform, the smooth stone walls replaced by twelve intricate pillars holding up the tower's roof. The bright blue sky spread out as far as the eye could see, a quick glance over the edge revealing the vast snowfields of the Ice Kingdom spread out like a map below. Darkstalker could just barely make out the Salvation, a tiny speck of gold against a sea of white.

At the center of the terrace was a wide, flat pedestal, a massive ball of glowing blue energy floating just above it. Hidden slowly walked up to the ball, eyeing it curiously as it hovered in place.

"I must congratulate you on making it here." a voice called from behind the glowing energy ball. The group turned to see Winnifred stepping around the odd centerpiece, adjusting his bowtie as he stepped up to them.

"_Hey! _Winnie! How's it going!" Hidden began.

"Quite fine, until now." Winnifred stated bluntly, casting a look of disdain towards the SandWing. He paused, adjusting his spectacles as he turned to the glowing energy ball. "Now then, if you would kindly step up to the prize ball…."

"Prize ball?" Hidden asked skeptically, staring back up at the ball of energy.

"Y-Yes, now just step up to it and…." Winnifred continued, before Hidden cut him off once again.

"Hold on, are each of us getting a prize from this thing, or is it just one prize for all of us?"

"One prize for all of you, now could you please…."

"Really? That's...disappointing."

"Well I don't make the rules here! Now step up and claim your prize already!' Winnifred growled through gritted teeth, talons clenched.

"Oh for moons sake…." Darkstalker started, pushing past the other four and stepping up to the "prize ball". He stared at it for a moment, before cautiously holding out talon, the others watching him curiously.

_Please don't kill me…._ he thought in the back of his mind, as he reached out his talon towards the pulsating ball of energy.

Suddenly, a large device popped out of the prize ball, flying straight at Darkstalker. He had just enough time to step back and hold out his foretalons, barely catching the heavy contraption before it could slam into his face. He paused, staring it over curiously, unsure of what exactly it was.

The device was roughly shaped like a two-taloned energy cannon, though with some odd modifications. At the end of the barrel was a device resembling an amplifier, on its side a miniature turntable. Its shell was a sleek white, accented by colorful bands of light reminiscent of the ones he'd seen on the dark creatures from the final challenge.

"Let me see that." Hidden said, walking up to Darkstalker, a twinkle in his dark eyes as he stared at the device. Darkstalker passed it over to the SandWing, who began turning it around in his talons, carefully inspecting every part of it. He finally crouched down on his hind legs, pointing the device's amplifier out toward the bright blue sky beyond.

"Do be careful!" Winnifred began, just before Hidden pulled the trigger.

A bright burst of colorful energy erupted from the front of the device, streaming out into the sky in a dazzling display. The sound of electronic dance music filled the terrace, rocking through Darkstalker's mind as it had during the final challenge.

"Shut it off!" he shouted, clutching his ears. He'd had just about enough of that awful music.

Hidden slipped his claw off of the trigger, staring down in shock at the device in his talons. A small grin began to creep across his snout, as Reggie strode over in his mecha.

"D-Dude...is that…?" he began.

"Yep." Hidden replied enthusiastically, "We got a dubstep cannon!"

Hidden and Reggie marveled at the device, Ricky stepping over to join them. Darkstalker stood to the side, silently staring at the trio gawking at their new toy.

"We went through all of that…." he sputtered, muscles tensing in disbelief, "All that trouble, for an _energy canon!_"

"A _dubstep canon_." Hidden corrected.

"How is that any better than the one you already have?!" Darkstalker snapped back.

Hidden shrugged. "This one plays music."

Darkstalker clenched his foretalons. All this time they'd spent climbing the tower, all the pain and humiliation he had suffered, all for a lousy energy canon. He felt a talon touch his shoulder, and turned to see Xavier standing beside him, staring at the trio with a somewhat amused grin.

"Personally, I was expecting a new car or something." the RainWing said, briefly glancing at the NightWing beside him.

Darkstalker huffed. "This whole thing was completely pointless." he stated. Xavier silently nodded in affirmation.

"Yeah, it kind of was." he replied, stretching out his back, "To be honest, I was a bit on the fence about going in here myself at first."

Darkstalker turned to Xavier, mildly surprised. Though, the RainWing had always come across as a bit of a follower to him. He turned back to the trio, watching as they took turns firing off the dubstep canon into the vast blue sky beyond.

"Why do you always follow him." Darkstalker asked, nodding towards Hidden, who was busy helping Ricky aim the device.

Xavier paused, taking a moment to consider Darkstalker's question. "Well, it's cause he needs me." Xavier finally replied, "And I need him."

"What do you mean?" Darkstalker asked, not fully understanding the RainWing's response.

"I guess you could say that I'm there to help rein things in when they start to get out of talon." Xavier explained, "Though, I can't say I'm very good at it." He chuckled, turning to Darkstalker. "I wouldn't have gotten half as far as I have in life had Hidden not been there to push me forward, and he wouldn't have made it as far as he has without me there to help with some of his more..._eccentric_ plans. Haven't you had anyone like that?"

Darkstalker froze. For the briefest moment, old memories began to surface, memories which felt dreamlike and surreal, as if they belonged to a past life he had never lived. He quickly shoved them aside, turning to face the prize ball and stepping away from the RainWing. Now wasn't the time to be dredging those up, especially not around these dragons.

"You're not planning on leaving, are you?" Xavier asked.

Darkstalker paused, turning back to the RainWing. "What makes you ask."

"I mean, we're all honestly pretty shocked that you're even still hanging around with us. Hidden figured you'd be gone the moment you were healed."

"The device I used to travel between timelines was taken from me." Darkstalker bluntly explained.

"Yeah, I heard." Xavier replied, "Though something tells me that wouldn't stop you."

"Hey Xavier, Dark! Wanna give it a try?!" Hidden shouted, despite being only a few paces away from the two of them. Darkstalker cast the SandWing a disinterested glance, and Xavier stepped over, crouching down with his foretalons extended.

Hidden grinned and tossed the canon over to Xavier, who slid back across the stone floor from its weight, losing his grip and accidentally dropping it. The dubstep canon catered to the ground, a stray burst of energy sailing across the terrace and out into the vast blue sky, nearly hitting Winnifred square in the head along the way.

Xavier quickly scooped up the Dubstep canon, Hidden casting Winnifred an apologetic glance. "Sorry about that!" he said sheepishly.

Winnifred growled, glaring at the SandWing. "_I think it is about time that you took your leave._" he hissed through gritted teeth. The spectacled NightWing sighed, glancing up above him, as if silently conferring with some invisible entity above him. A relieved grin crossed his snout, and he turned back to the group, having regained his composure.

"Thank you for climbing the Tower of Doom." he said congenially, snapping his claws.

In an instant, the five of them were standing back on the frigid wasteland of the Ice Kingdom, the Tower of Doom having completely vanished. The blizzard had long since passed, though the frigid cold still struck Darkstalker like lightning.

_Great…._ He thought, just as piles of blankets dropped upon each of the four dragons. Darkstalker quickly began bumbling himself up in them as he had before, the others doing the same. _Here's hoping I never see that horrible tower ever again._

* * *

**AN:**

**I'm a little iffy about this chapter. The first third or so seems pretty good to me, but the conclusion at the top of the tower feels a little rushed. I probably could have put in some more lines of dialogue and inner monologue, but I wanted to get this chapter done by today, and I spent most of this week not working on it, what with school and a new campaign on the Halo MCC distracting me. The biggest hurdle was probably figuring out how to explain why Darkstalker won't just leave after this episode, as he is supposed to stick around with the group. There doesn't seem to be any reason for him to stay with them from his perspective, at least, extrinsically speaking, so the biggest motivators I've employed are that he doesn't really have anywhere else to go, and that deep down he does kind of enjoy being there. Or perhaps maybe he's just too lazy to bother stealing a shuttle? Other bits like Hidden bugging Winnifred and Xavier talking with Darkstalker about Hidden are also a little iffy to me too. Not that they're not good ideas, I just feel like I could do them better if I had more time, if I had less other things to worry about, and if I wasn't constantly fighting with writer's block. Again, I could always come back and rewrite this story in the future, when I'm a more skilled writer and can look back on it as a whole, but it still bugs me that it doesn't live up to my unrealistic expectations. What do you think, was the conclusion alright? And what did you think of the Tower of Doom episode as a whole, as crazy as it was?**

**With that, the most absurd part of this story comes to a close. Only one more POV is left before we get into the endgame, who could it be? Stay tuned!**


	39. Chapter 39: Promises

**Review Responses:**

**Guest - You're review doesn't seem to have appeared on the site yet, but I got the email. I'm glad you like my story!**

* * *

**Chapter 39: Promises**

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**The Salvation**

**Hangar Bay**

"Is that the best you've got?!"

Luna ducked as Lin jabbed the metal staff at her shoulder, sliding down and prodding the EarthWing in the stomach with the electrified ends of her metal tonfa. Lin staggered back, clutching the soft scales of her underbelly, grinning as she caught her breath.

"You're quite the tricky one to hit, aren't you?" the EarthWing asked.

Luna shrugged. "If you want, I could slow down a bit, give you a chance to catch up." she offered with a sly grin.

"Don't bother." Lin replied, before lunging toward the yellow-green SilkWing. Luna readied to leap out of the way, when Lin sidestepped to the right, sweeping her staff through Luna's legs and catching her off guard. Luna fell to the hard metal floor of the hangar, just barely rolling out of the way before Lin could bring her heavy tail down upon her."

"Wow! Good!" Maple shouted enthusiastically in Dragon (or as the dragons here called it, "Draconic"). The human was sitting up on the dashboard of one of the shuttles, watching the fight through the craft's windshield. Luna still wasn't quite sure how she had managed to scramble up there.

"If you add more of a _hrrrrgle_ to the end, it should sound more natural!" Luna shouted back in the human language, before narrowly avoiding another of Lin's attacks. She leapt back, spreading her twin pairs of wings to steady herself.

"Three moons, you're almost as bad as that SandWing." Lin chided.

"Last I checked, he almost had you beat in that tournament." Luna replied.

Lin smirked. "Only because he had an unfair advantage."

The two lunged forward, Lin swinging and twirling about her omni-staff as Luna shielded herself with her tonfa. The EarthWing quickly separated the staff, slashing relentlessly at Luna as she held up her weapons in defense, her rear talons sliding back along the smooth floor.

Luna grinned, and just as Lin was swinging down one of her sticks, she slipped to the side, grabbing Lin's foreleg in one talon and knocking the stick out of her grasp with the other. The metal rod clattered to the floor, rolling away beneath one of the shuttles.

"Nice job." Lin said, as Luna stepped back, "But that won't be enough." The EarthWing separated her remaining stick once again, a long chain extending between the two halves. One of the ends clattered to the floor, its energized tip pulsating with bright blue light.

Lin grabbed hold of the chain and began swinging the energized end around in the air, hurling it towards Luna. The SilkWing quickly dove out of the way, but the chain managed to snag onto one of her tonfa, ripping it out of her grasp. The EarthWing quickly pulled it in, grabbing Luna's weapon and twirling it in her talon.

"Could you maybe _not_ steal my weapons for once?" Luna asked, as Lin tossed the tonfa aside.

"Hey, guys?"

"I won't need your weapon to beat you here." Lin calmly stated, pressing a button on her half of the omni staff, the chain quickly retracting until it had returned to its previous state. She twirled the stick in one talon, crouching down on three legs as she prepared to strike.

"Guys?"

"Don't underestimate me." Luna confidently replied. She could feel her blood pumping, her heart racing in anticipation of the imminent clash.

"GUYS!"

The two quickly turned towards Maple, seeing her pointing through the shuttle's windshield toward the hangar's open rear bay door. They turned to see four bulging shadows slowly shambling up the ramp, a shiny metal SteelWing casually stepping up along with them.

Luna didn't recognize the newcomers at first, buried beneath heaps of heavy blankets, but as they drew closer, she spotted a familiar looking pale yellow snout.

"Moons above, you _actually_ went out there?!" Luna asked, quickly running down the ramp to help them up. Lin followed suit, helping to stabilize a shivering Xavier as he walked up the ramp half blinded by the blankets covering his face.

"L-Luna? What're you doing here?" Hidden asked, pulling away the blankets covering his face. The SandWing sat down next to one of the shuttles, stretching out his wings as he tossed aside his heap of blankets.

"I think a better question would be why you were out in that icy wasteland." Luna replied, "I heard it was something about a..._tower?_"

"Oh, it was totally awesome!" a voice called out from inside the SteelWing. It's chest cavity opened to reveal a human with scraggly black hair sitting inside, an excited grin on his face. "Apparently, it was this thing called the "Tower of Doom", and it had like, a _bunch_ of these crazy challenges in it, and at the top we...well, Xavier can show you!"

Luna turned to the RainWing, his blankets also tossed to the side, his teeth still chattering even within the warmth of the hangar. He seemed to be carrying some sort of weapon, though Luna hadn't ever seen anything like it before.

"Y-Y-Yeah...s-sure…." he sputtered, "I c-can s-s-show you…."

The RainWing turned, pointing the weapon out to the vast snowfields outside, and pulled the trigger, unleashing a stream of brightly colored light and loud EDM into the sky. Luna flinched back in surprise, seeing Lin having a similar reaction to the bizarre weapon.

"Well that's certainly...something." she stated. She had to admit that an energy cannon that fired condensed dubstep was a pretty cool idea, impractical as it may be.

Lin shook her head, sighing. "I'm going to check the storage bay for something warm. Try not to blow anything up with that, would you?" she asked, striding out of the hangar and into the adjacent hall.

Luna chuckled, watching Xavier flop down on his pile of blankets, Ricky lying down nearby. "So, the Tower's real?" she asked, turning back to Hidden, "I've heard a couple rumors about it here and there, but I never thought something like that could _actually_ exist."

"Trust me, it's real." Hidden replied, standing back up, "And of all the things we've seen in this multiverse, talons down, it's the weirdest."

"So, what kind of challenges were there anyway?!" Maple shouted through the windshield of the shuttle, eyes wide with curiosity.

"Oh, it was some wild stuff!" Reggie excitedly replied, "We got trapped in a giant pinball machine, we had to fight slimy ghosts in a haunted manor, and Darkstalker sang on some kind of music gameshow thing!"

Luna froze.

Had she heard him right? She quickly whipped her head around, scanning the hangar, and noticed the fourth blanket covered dragon, slowly pulling the dense coverings off of their shiny black scales. Twisted white horns emerged from the heap, a dull grey teardrop scale behind each of the dragon's eyes.

A Darkstalker, no doubt about it.

That alone would be enough to put Luna on edge, but the nodes and cables covering the NightWing's body were even more concerning. Luna was pretty sure she knew whose tech it was, the thought of it sending shivers down her spine.

"W-Why is there a _Darkstalker _with you?" She hesitantly asked, attempting to avoid thinking about the cybernetic enhancements covering the NightWing's body.

"_A_ Darkstalker?" Hidden asked skeptically, stepping up beside her, "How many of these guys are there?"

"More than enough." Luna replied, the NightWing having now returned her gaze. He didn't seem nearly as big as he was in most other timelines, and the dull grey teardrop scales were an odd detail. He briefly glanced down at the portable slipdrive strapped around her left foreleg, before strolling off into one of the side hallways, his talons clinking against the metal floor.

"Do you know what he's _done_ in most timelines?" Luna asked, turning to Hidden.

The SandWing shrugged, staring at where the NightWing had left. "What if he's not from one of those timelines. He could be a perfectly nice guy for all you know."

"_Really?_"

"Oh moons no. But he's only ever come across as irritable and moody, not exactly _evil_."

Luna sighed. "Well, if you want someone like _that _around, then that's your problem." she said. The devices on the NightWing's body still unnerved her, but she didn't want to think about _him_; not now, nor ever again.

"Alright, I found these things. Apparently they're heat blankets, or something." Lin stated, stepping back into the hangar. She tossed a rolled up white blanket over to Hidden, and two others to Ricky and Xavier, the RainWing eagerly wrapping it around himself and pressing a button on its edge, letting out a sigh of relief as an orange warmth spread across its surface.

"Hold on, where's the NightWing?" Lin asked, gazing around the chamber.

"I'll take one to him." Reggie offered, closing the SteelWing's cockpit and grabbing one of the blankets, strolling off with it to where the NightWing had left to.

"So, are we going to finish this fight, or what?" Lin asked, stepping over to one of the parked shuttles and reaching under it to grab the second half of the omni-staff.

"I dunno, with these guys here…?" Luna replied, casting a glance toward the SkyWing and RainWing flopped down on their piles of blankets, lightly dozing beneath their softly glowing heat blankets.

Lin sighed, snapping the two halves of her omni-staff back together. "This is why I wanted to wait until they were gone to do it." she said under her breath.

"Aw come on, you know I'd want to see this!" Hidden replied, his heat blanket hastily draped over his back. "Perhaps you can finish up in the next timeline we visit?"

Luna stared out of the hangar at the vast snowfields stretching into the distance. "A change of scenery could be nice." she said, turning back to Hidden and Lin. As pretty as the Ice Kingdom could be, it was nothing compared to the sheer white cliffs of the southern coast of Pyrrhia, or the sweeping mountain peaks of northwestern Pantala.

"Alright." Lin agreed, stepping over and grabbing Luna's travel bag, tossing it over to her. "Come on, you can stay in one of the bunks for now. It might be a little while before we're settled down like this again."

Luna nodded, and followed Lin over to one of the arches along the side wall of the hangar. She briefly cast a glance back, seeing Hidden grinning back at her, and set off into the curved hallways of the Salvation.

* * *

**The Salvation**

**Level 3 Bunks**

Luna stepped out of the elevator after Lin, following her through the brightly lit halls of the Salvation's third level. Strips of glass ran along the walls, much thicker than the ones present in most modern Alliance ships of similar build. Every now and then she'd spot a piece of paper taped to the walls, marking off what certain rooms were or giving directions toward important parts of the ship.

Walking through the Salvation's halls, she was reminded of the last time she'd been aboard an alliance ship, a year or so back. Nobody had told _her_ that there was a secret underground military base beneath that timeline's Agate mountain.

They rounded a corner, and arrived at a slightly wider hallway, small metal doors spaced along each of the walls. Luna got a brief chuckle out of the tiny human sized door at their end of the hall, sticking out like a sore claw.

"You can take one of the rooms next to mine." Lin offered, pointing a talon toward one of the doors along the right wall, the number six etched into the wall beside it. Luna began to walk over toward the door on the far side of it, when the next one down slid open, the shiny SteelWing from earlier stepping out.

"Oh, hey Luna!" the voice of the pilot called out from the inside. "Didn't expect to see you up here! What's up?"  
"Nothing much…." Luna began, casting a wary glance toward the bunk the SteelWing had emerged from. She had a sinking feeling she knew who was staying in there.

"You know, we were never really introduced." The pilot continued, flipping open the metal dragon's cockpit, "I'm…."

"Reggie?" Luna interrupted. "Don't worry, Maple's already told me all about you."

The dark haired human let out an embarrassed chuckle, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, well, I should probably get going." he said, closing the cockpit back up and setting back off toward the elevator, "It's her turn to pilot the Reggie-tron now that I'm back." The SteelWing rounded the corner, disappearing from sight, Luna donning an amused grin.

"What a name…." she muttered under her breath, stepping over to the door on the other side of Lin's, closest to the side of the hall where they had come in. She cast one last glance towards the bunk on the opposite side of the hall, and pressed a button on a control pad next to the door, causing it to slide open and reveal a small chamber with a cot mounted to each side wall and a small desk at the back.

"See you in a bit." Luna said, waving to Lin as she stepped inside, the door sliding shut behind her. She tossed her travel bag and tonfa down onto the metal desk, hearing the sound of Lin's bunk door sliding open and closed through the wall.

Looking up at a small window above her desk, no more than a mere slit of a skylight cut into the Salvation's curved hull, she saw the bright blue sky of the Ice Kingdom, scarcely a cloud dotting the sliver of it she could see.

She was just about ready to flop down on one of the cots and get some rest, taking a large swig from a water canteen stored in one of her bag's side pouches, when she heard someone banging a talon against her door.

She groaned, setting her canteen on the desk and stepping over to the door, reaching for the panel next to it. Did Lin have something else she needed to say, or was it just Hidden here to bug her?

The door slid open, revealing a dark-scaled dragon covered in wires and nodes standing just behind it. Luna leapt back in fright, quickly grabbing her tonfa and holding them at the ready, electrified ends poised to strike.

Darkstalker sighed. "I'm not here to fight." he said calmly, taking a step forward. Luna wasn't buying it.

"No, that wouldn't be your style, would it?" Luna snapped back, ready to strike at a moment's notice. "What do you want with me?"

The NightWing glanced down at the slipdrive strapped to Luna's foreleg, the SilkWing quickly pulling it away.

"You're here for my slipdrive, aren't you? Well, you're not having it!" she hastily replied, briefly staring at the nodes and cables on the NightWing's body, her heart racing.

Luna expected the NightWing to grow irritated, to assert his superiority over her and demand that she give up her slipdrive. Yet, to her surprise, he seemed much more...downtrodden, staring up at the miniscule skylight forlornly.

"I was just going to ask if you could take me with you when you leave, at least to a timeline where I can acquire my own slipdrive." he stated, seemingly just about as eager to end this conversation as she was.

Luna paused to think, never dropping her guard for even a second. She certainly didn't trust this dragon, not any more than she trusted any other dragon with his name. And if he really wanted to leave, then why didn't he just take one of the shuttles?

"I'll...think about it…." Luna finally replied, hoping that it would be enough to drive him away for the time being.

Darkstalker nodded, stepping back through the open doorway. The two stood silently for a moment, staring at each other, neither willing nor able to come up with something to say, before the door automatically slid shut.

Luna stood staring at the metal door, as if Darkstalker's haunting presence were still standing there in her room. There was no doubt about whose tech adorned the NightWing.

_Talk about a nightmare combination…._ she thought in the back of her mind, attempting to lighten her mood. It didn't work.

She flopped down onto one of the cots, tossing her tonfa to the floor. She pulled out her miniature slipdrive, staring at its shiny blue shell in the crisp afternoon light, before setting it down on the desk.

No matter what she tried to think of, the image of the cybernetically enhanced NightWing never left her mind, forcing back up old memories buried beneath a decade's worth of repression. Luna could feel herself shivering, her breath growing erratic.

She wasn't going to be sleeping tonight.

* * *

**AN:**

**I'm pretty proud of how this chapter turned out. My only gripe is that the ending portion may be a tiny bit rushed, but it still seems to flow pretty well. I hope you all like Luna's POV!**

**The team travels deeper and deeper into Alliance territory, what new adventures could await them in the next timeline? Stay tuned!**


	40. Chapter 40: Ghost Town

**Review Responses:**

**Pt35 - The tech on Darkstalker is meant to be pretty powerful (though not as OP as something like animus magic), Darkstalker is just a terrible fighter. Part of his character arc is that he's always relied on raw power to get by, and thus has little to no actual fighting experience, and doesn't know how to use his powers to their fullest extent. Winnifred deflecting his blast was less because of his lack of power and more because Winnifred works for the Tower of Doom, and the Tower of Doom does whatever it wants. Also, both Hidden and Darkstalker here are 17, and roughly the same size, and since Hidden's actually been taking time to train with Lin, he's already far surpassed Darkstalker in terms of combat skill. Why Darkstalker doesn't admit this in his own POV is mainly because he doesn't want to admit to his own weakness, and still wants to live with the notion that his raw strength alone is enough. There is another reason though why his tech might seem flawed or slapdash in nature, though that's going to be explained later, along with why it scares Luna so much (it's not exactly the tech itself as much as the creator of it that has Luna on edge). ****A lot of this will be explored soon near the finale, which will be a major turning point in Darkstalker's character arc. I don't know when Darkstalker will get back at Hidden, though I might save it for later on or something, especially with everything that's about to go down.**

**Quick Note:**

**These next couple of chapters will be a bit gorier and more violent than previous ones, not sure exactly to what extent though. Just wanted to throw a quick warning out there for anyone whose squeamish about this kind of stuff.**

* * *

**Chapter 40: Ghost Town**

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**Shuttle 2**

There was always something exciting about traveling to a new timeline, wondering what the world would be like, what perils and wonders could await at the end of the swirling blue slipstream. Of course, one usually couldn't just travel to random timelines whenever they liked, Alliance laws barred entering many timelines that had not yet achieved inter-timeline travel on their own (which was most of them), timelines marked for "noninterference". That hadn't stopped Luna from popping into these timelines from time to time, whether it be to take a look around or follow a lead, though she always had to be careful not to get caught.

But now, she had an excuse, being in the company of dragons who were unaware of such multiversal bylaws, likely having come from noninterference timelines themselves. Situations like these generally led to quick bursts of new member timelines, at least when the unassuming travelers caused such a ruckus in the ones they'd visited that further interference was deemed necessary. Of course, there would still be mountains of paperwork involved, and an exhausting amount of formalities; at least, so far as Luna had heard.

"Hey, Luna?" Lin asked, snapping Luna out of her train of thought. The SilkWing turned away from the tiny window at the back of the shuttle to the EarthWing siding beside her.

"What made you want to come with us anyway?"

Luna paused, not quite sure how to respond. "I uh…." she began, remembering the tense encounter she'd had back on the Salvation, "I just felt like getting out, you know? Besides, you may need some help once you run into the Alliance."

Lin nodded, turning to look out the windshield of the shuttle. Ricky sat behind the dashboard, relaxing in his seat as the autopilot carried them through the swirling vortex. Hidden sat beside him, playing a game on a twin-screened device that flipped open like a book. On the other side of the shuttle's main chamber sat the Reggie-tron 9000, Maple sitting in it with the cockpit open.

"Hey, how much longer is it gonna be before we reach the next timeline?" Luna asked, leaning over toward the cockpit. "We can't be going that far."

"We figured we'd keep going till the shuttle's slipdrive is about to overheat." Hidden explained, "Then park somewhere safe, scope out the area, and bring in the Salvation."

"One problem." Luna replied. "Smaller ships can travel further and faster between timelines than larger ones before their slipdrives overheat. That's why I can travel between nearby timelines in mere seconds using my talon-held one."

Hidden paused, flipping his game system shut, and turned to Ricky. "How long have we been traveling for?" he asked.

Ricky shrugged. "'About ten minutes."

"The Salvation flew for about an hour and a half before it's slipdrive overheated." Hidden mused, staring at the floor as he ran calculations in his head. "The shuttles are roughly...one twelfth the length of the Salvation end to end, I think, making the Salvation somewhere between 800 to 1200 times the size of one of the shuttles. I might be way off about that though, I never got any exact measurements, but if the size is directly proportional to travel speed...is it Luna?"

"If you're so worried about it, then park the shuttle and we'll regroup in whatever timeline we wind up in." Luna said, tired of listening to Hidden ramble. The SandWing shrugged at his SkyWing brother, who grabbed hold of the control wheel, pressing a few buttons on the dashboard to pull the shuttle out of the slipstream.

The vortex quickly ripped away, revealing a vast array of jagged mountain peaks, spruce forests clustered between them, the ocean visible not far away. The morning sun shone brightly overhead, a few thin clouds stretched out across the soft blue sky.

"Back in the Claws, huh?" Hidden commented, gazing out at the sea of rocky spires spread out below.

"Looks like we're somewhere around the shoulder of the continent." Ricky stated, pointing at a small screen above the dashboard displaying their location over Pyrrhia.

Luna stepped up into the cockpit between the two brothers, staring out at the serene landscape. The rough peaks of the Claws of the Clouds Mountains were much shorter here than the towering cliffs further northeast, but they looked nonetheless harrowing. There didn't seem to be any other dragons around at first, until a faint trail of smoke creeping up from a small valley caught Luna's eye.

"Look over there." She said, pointing a talon at the twisting tendril of smoke.

"What the…." Hidden began, squinting as he leaned in for a closer look. "Is there someone down there?" Ricky leaned closer toward the windshield as well, Lin and Maple peeking in from the rear chamber.

"Think we should go say hi?" Hidden asked.

"I don't know…." Ricky replied, leaning back nervously, "Last time we did, it didn't end so well."

Hidden and Ricky paused for a moment, likely remembering something that had happened before Luna had arrived at the Salvation. She wasn't quite sure what it was, though she had noticed a few new scars on Xavier that weren't there the last time she'd seen him.

"I say we go down." she said, breaking the silence. "It's likely only a small village, and it'd be better if we made some allies here, especially if we'll be bringing in the Salvation later."

Hidden nodded in agreement, though Ricky still seemed a bit pensive. "We should at least land somewhere a little ways away, just to be safe." the SkyWing suggested, turning back to the dashboard and gripping the steering wheel. He angled the shuttle downward, Luna stepping back into the rear chamber as it dove down for a landing in the woods near the pillar of smoke.

Luna silently listened to the sound of the shuttle's thrusters dying down, barely hearing the soft crunch of soil beneath its landing gear. Lin stepped over and pulled a lever on the back wall, lowering the rear ramp to the forest floor. The EarthWing stepped down onto the soft soil, Luna and Maple following after her, with Ricky and Hidden exiting through the side doors of the cockpit.

Luna stared up at the towering treetops above her, birds singing in the deep green spruce needles. Pinecones were littered about the ground, crunching beneath her talons as she followed the others through the trees to the source of the smoke.

"My old village was in a forest." Luna heard Maple say through the Reggie-tron's speakers, the metal dragon's head gazing up at the towering treetops, "Though it was nothing like this!"

"Have you ever been to the Claws before?" Luna asked.

"I don't think so…." Maple replied, "We didn't have very good maps in our village, and I was never allowed to stray too far."

Luna grinned, stepping over closer to the SteelWing. "There's this one timeline where the Claws are a bunch of _floating islands_, in the sky! And they're _huge!_" she explained, waving her talons in the air to emphasize their scale. Even though she couldn't see her face, Luna could tell that Maple's eyes were wide with wonder.

"F-For real?!" she asked.

Luna nodded. "Yeah, they're absolutely incredible! Especially when the snow on their peaks melts, spilling over in massive waterfalls that flow into giant crater lakes below! I could take you there sometime."

"Oh, sounds cool! Can I come too?" Hidden asked, falling back to the other side of Luna.

"Yeah, sure…." Luna replied. She should have known he'd be interested.

"Thanks!" Hidden said, grinning excitedly. "I wonder what makes them float. Is it magic, or some kind of funky electromagnetic business, or…hold on, do you smell that?"

Luna paused, taking in a big whiff through her nostrils. There was an odd smell of smoke in the air, and of...burning corpses? Luna felt a slight chill run down her spine, seeing that the others were put off by the smell as well.

There was something very wrong about this place, and Luna had a feeling they were about to find out just what it was.

The closer they grew to the source of the smoke, the more pungent the smell became, eventually becoming so unbearable that Luna had to breathe through her mouth to keep from vomiting. Even then, she still felt like she could taste the odor with every gulp of air she sucked in.

A few small structures began to appear through the trees, the group eventually emerging into a small clearing, the remains of what was once a quaint village spread across the bare forest floor. Old cobblestone roads buried beneath a layer of dead pine needles crisscrossed between ruined buildings, some so dilapidated that their roofs had completely caved in. Debris was scattered all about, smashed bits of pots and barrels littered around the desolate dwellings, suggesting that a large skirmish had once taken place in this now lifeless settlement.

Luna almost threw up when she spotted a small pile of burning SkyWing corpses near one of the collapsed buildings, bits and pieces of the charred remains sticking out through the dying flames. _Now we know where the smell is coming from._ she thought, holding a talon over her mouth.

"Wh-What happened here…?" Lin asked, her legs uncharacteristically shaking at the sight of the devastated village. She looked just about ready to curl up into a ball with her tail wrapped around her head, her steady resolve keeping her standing.

"H-Hidden, maybe we should get out of here…." Ricky said, stepping over closer to his brother. The SandWing gazed about the village, seemingly swallowing back his fear as he scanned the area, before his eyes landed on something near the village center. He immediately bolted off toward it, Luna and Ricky quickly chasing after him, Maple and Lin taking up the rear.

"Wait, hold on!" Ricky shouted, "What is it?!"  
Hidden stopped near a small stone well at the center of the village, the limp form of a SkyWing hunched over it. The SandWing briefly reached over to it, but hesitated, instead grabbing a large tree branch nearby and turning over the body with it. The others stood aside, tensely watching as the SkyWing was rolled onto its back.

"Oh...sweet moons…." Hidden said, retching at the site of the mangled dragon. A large chunk of flesh was ripped off of its chest, flies crawling about its blood stained ribs and decaying organs. It's jaw hung loosely from its head, barely held on on one side by an odd vine-like growth. Upon closer inspection, Luna noticed similar growths on other decaying parts of its body.

"Hidden...we really need to…." Ricky began, as Hidden reached down to poke the corpse with the branch.

Just as the tip of the tree branch touched the dead dragon's bloodstained scales, its left foreleg snapped forward, grabbing hold of Hidden's wrist. The SandWing yelped in fright, quickly pulling his own foreleg out of its grasp and leaping back, the branch clattering to the ground.

The whole group quickly backed away, watching in horror as the SkyWing's body lurched and shifted, a low, guttural moan creeping out of its decaying maw.

"I-Is...is that a…." Ricky sputtered, terror stealing his voice from him. The whole group was scared speechless, even Luna. She'd heard a few stories of things like this happening in some timelines (rumors about dragon necromancers always seemed to be floating about), but it couldn't compare to how horrifying of a sight it was to witness first-talon.

"Alright, everyone just back up slowly...and…." Hidden began quietly, cautiously taking a step away. The undead SkyWing let out a low growl, and sprang toward him, eyes white and glossy, what claws it had left outstretched and reaching for his throat. Hidden quickly leapt out of the way, swatting the rotted dragon aside with his tail.

"Aw! I think I got some of it on me!" he groaned, wiping his tail on the ground to try and clean off the SkyWing's blood, instead causing pine needles to stick to it.

"Hidden, watch out!" Luna shouted, as the SkyWing leapt back toward him, flies bursting out of its chest cavity. Lin quickly leapt forward, whipping out her omni-staff and smacking the SkyWing's head clean off with it. The group watched in disgust and horror as the head rolled across the ground, its jaw falling off part way. The SkyWing's now headless body fell forward, Hidden quickly rolling out of its way.

"Th-Thanks…." Hidden said, wiping some off the SkyWing's blood off the side of his face.

"Something tells me this place wasn't destroyed in an ordinary raid…." Lin warily stated, holding her staff at the ready as deep moans and growls echoed from the surrounding ruins.

The group clustered together in the center of the village, watching as more undead SkyWings in varying states of decay crept out into the open. Each of them stared on with blank white eyes, their gaunt bodies shambling out of the building's shadows. Some of the dragons' limbs were twisted and broken, others missing them altogether. Chunks of their flesh were rotted away, one dragon missing half of the scales on its face, its skull gleaming brightly in the light of the corpse fire not far away.

"So, we're in zombie apocalypse land now?" Hidden asked.

"I know, right! _So cool!_" Maple replied, eliciting confused glances from all the others. "I mean...not the 'trying to kill us' part…."

One of the zombified dragons made a break for the Reggie-tron, Maple quickly pounding its head into the cobblestone road with one of its steel talons. Another leapt up at it from behind, Luna quickly spinning around and grabbing its tail, hoping to throw it to the ground. Instead, the tail ripped clean off, the rest of the dragon falling to the side as Maple crushed it beneath the SteelWing's own metal tail.

"We should _really_ be going!" Luna shouted, swinging the SkyWing's severed tail into another one making a run for her. The zombies were surprisingly fast, though Luna was quick to adapt. One couldn't let their preconceived notions get the better of them while travelling the multiverse.

The zombies continued to pour out over the ruins, the undead dragons scrambling for a taste of the newcomers. "They won't stop coming!" Hidden shouted, activating the energy shield on his wrist to block a couple zombies, their jaws snapping as they desperately attempted to get past the pulsating barricade. He quickly deactivated the shield and spun around, knocking them back with the side of his tail.

"Why don't you use your tail barb?!" Lin shouted to Hidden, jabbing her staff through the neck of a zombie dragon reaching for Ricky. The SkyWing was crouched down at the center of the group, staring at the carnage around him in horror.

"Ew, gross! I'm not putting my tail through these things!" Hidden shouted back. "What about you Maple?! You got any other weapons on that thing?!"

"I don't know!" Maple shouted through the Reggie-tron's speakers, smashing the heads of two unread dragons together. "Reggie and I never found anything!"

"That's a civilian SteelWing! It doesn't have any weapons!" Luna explained, ducking down and jabbing one of the zombies in its half decayed stomach with her tonfa, kicking it away with her hind legs.

"SteelWing?!" Hidden asked, ramming an attacker back against one of the crumbling walls with his shield, setting it alight with his fire breath.

"They're mechs designed to level the playing field between humans and dragons!" Luna shouted over the cacophonous moaning and squelching of the undead horde.

"Why does this matter right now?!" Lin roared, spinning and whirling around as the two halves of her omni-staff carved through the oncoming tide.

Luna knocked another of the undead dragons away from her, noticing an odd twitching coming from one of the fallen corpses, the one Lin had beheaded earlier before it could reach Hidden. The headless SkyWing slowly got to its feet, limping over to its severed head and jaw, picking up both and placing them back on its neck, more of the vine-like tendrils growing out of its flesh to reattach them.

"Oh moons…." Luna muttered, rushing over toward Lin and Hidden, the SandWing tripping up an especially large undead MudWing while Lin drove her staff through its skull.

"We need to leave, now!" Luna shouted. The other two nodded, Hidden quickly rushing over to swat away the top half of a SkyWing that was reaching for Ricky. They had managed to thin the zombies' numbers considerably, though many of the ones they had taken down were starting to pull themselves together again.

"Let's go!" Lin shouted, darting out of the settlement in the direction of the shuttle. Luna wondered for a moment why she hadn't taken to the sky, only to notice more undead dragons hiding up in the treetops, waiting for any unsuspecting prey to pass them by. She quickly followed after the EarthWing, Maple, Hidden and Ricky right behind her.

The moaning and screeching of the undead dragons followed them through the forest, the crunching of branches signaling their hot pursuit. Every now and then, one would leap out of the undergrowth, or down from one of the treetops, desperately grasping for fresh dragon flesh.

One of the jumpers managed to land on Luna's tail, the undead dragon sinking its teeth into her left hind leg. Luna growled, jabbing it with the electrified end of one of her tonfa, the undead dragon letting go long enough for her to kick it away with her other hind leg. She quickly scrambled to her feet, wincing, as blood started to drip from the open wound.

"You alright Luna?" Hidden asked, casting a concerned glance to her wounded leg.

"Yeah, I'm fine…." Luna groaned unconvincingly, "Come on, we need to keep going!"

The group continued pushing forward through the woods, Hidden and Ricky helping to stabilize Luna until the shuttle came into sight. The two brothers quickly hopped into the cockpit, slamming the doors shut beside them. Lin and Maple took up positions at the bottom of the ramp, Luna limping up between them, trying her best not to look as pained as she was.

"Hurry up and fly this thing already!" Lin shouted, grabbing the dubstep cannon from the floor of the shuttle. She took aim at the oncoming horde, when an undead SkyWing leapt out of the thicket, knocking the cannon out of Lin's grasp and tackling Luna further back into the shuttle's rear chamber. Talons thumped onto the roof of the shuttle, more zombies gathering on top as they tried to claw their way inside.

The undead dragon on top of Luna quickly spread its tattered wings, briefly stunning Lin and Maple beside her, and was about to slash its claws across her throat, when a spear suddenly pierced straight through its head, blood spurting down onto Luna as it fell limply to the side.

The SilkWing quickly crawled over next to Maple, grabbing the dubstep cannon, and watching as the undead dragons shifted their focus from the dragons in the shuttle to something rustling in the trees behind it. A flash of bright red scales leapt out of the overgrowth, a familiar looking SkyWing landing in front of the shuttle's open ramp.

The SkyWing's body was covered in scars, a few claws missing from a couple of his talons, a black leather eyepatch covering his left eye. He pulled a small dagger out of a pouch around his left foreleg, twirling it around as he glared at the undead dragons surrounding them.

"Why don't you come chew on this ya flesh eatin' fiends!" he growled, as the horde began to close in on him.

The SkyWing leapt into action, leaping between the assailants as his blade carved through their joints with pinpoint precision, quickly disabling them one by one. He briefly leapt into the shuttle, pulling his spear out of the zombie that had nearly killed Luna, and leapt right back into the fray, his two weapons carving wide arcs through the onslaught.

Luna watched on silently, before remembering the dubstep cannon nearby, quickly grabbing and pointing it at some of the zombies further away from the eyepatched SkyWing. She pulled the trigger, unleashing streams of brightly colored plasma and bass-boosted dubstep upon the horde, the energy beam scorching anything that lay in its path.

Minutes passed, Luna struggling to bear the pain in her leg as she let loose with the dubstep cannon. When the zombie's numbers had substantially fallen, she dropped the heavy device, leaning against the wall of the shuttle as she gasped for air.

"Luna, are you alright?" Lin asked, noticing the bleeding bite mark on Luna's leg. The EarthWing started toward her, but Luna held up a talon, nodding.

"I'm...I'm fine…." she said through heavy breaths.

Lin frowned, unconvinced. She reached for a small first aid kit mounted to one of the walls, flipping it open and sifting through its contents. She briefly looked over a few bottles, seemingly unsure of what to make of them, before tossing them aside and grabbing a roll of white cloth, quickly wrapping it around Luna's leg.

"That should stop the bleeding." Lin stated, fastening the end of the wrapping with a small metal hook. "You'll need to get that looked at later, though."

"So much for our fight...huh?" Luna said, grinning through the pain.

Lin smiled back, and helped Luna to her feet, the two making their way down the shuttle's ramp as Maple dragged out the bleeding corpse, Hidden and Ricky having already stepped out of the cockpit.

The group silently watched as the SkyWing effortlessly cleaved through the horde. The few remaining zombies began to keep their distance, hissing and growling as the SkyWing kept them at bay with sweeping bursts of his fire breath.

Soon enough, what remained of the horde was retreating into the woods, the carved up bodies around the one-eyed SkyWing twitching and jerking as they struggled to pull themselves back together.

"We'll need to burn 'em, before they get back up for round two." the newcomer said, taking a deep breath as he slipped his dagger back into its pouch. He twirled his spear around, skewering the corpses and dragging them into a large pile away from the shuttle.

"Hold on...who are you?" Hidden asked, approaching the familiar looking SkyWing as he set the first pile alight.

"The name's Ricky." the SkyWing replied, the group's eyes growing wide, "Who are you?"

* * *

**AN:**

**I'm pretty proud of how this chapter turned out. I managed to squeeze in a decent amount of character interactions, and also deliver some more info about the greater multiverse society as a whole. I'll admit the violence is definitely ramped up here, though I think it could help transition into the slightly darker, more serious chapters to come (especially after the Tower of Doom). Apocalypse Ricky is also introduced here, so that's nice.**

**Some of you may have already figured out what this zombie virus really is. The zombies aren't going to be the main threat of this episode going forward, though.**

**What other perils could await the team in this harrowing timeline? Stay tuned!**


	41. Chapter 41: The Cure

**Review Responses:**

**Pt35 - The character's won't be getting too terribly injured for now, the stakes aren't that high at the moment, though I plan to gradually ramp things up going into the future. Also, this episode's taking a pretty crazy shift in this chapter, you'll see what I mean.**

**Fourth wall repairman - I've tried to tie this in with the series pretty well, exploring various parts of its world while also expanding the series' world beyond the books. This expansion will likely become pretty extreme in the future, as the story starts to become its own thing. One of my goals for this isn't to just tell a story in the WoF world, but to construct an entirely knew world around it. I've always imagined this story as a TV show, but realistically it will never happen. Even my slightly more realistic dream of it becoming an official manga spinoff series is totally unrealistic. Honestly though, the best I can do is make this story the best it can be, and hope that its quality and crazy premise get it popular enough to warrant some attention. Also, sorry I forgot to reply to your first review! Not sure what "pjo" is, but feel free to write your own multiverse fic. I've actually come up with a theoretical explanation that would allow multiple WoF multiverse fics to coexist in the same canon without interfering with one another.**

**aRandomSunwing - I left a review on your story. Hope I can be of some help!**

**Meteor WoF fan - Glad you liked it!**

* * *

**Chapter 41: The Cure**

* * *

**Claws of the Clouds Mountains**

**Early Afternoon**

The smell of burning flesh filled the air, as Maple and Lin helped the scarred Ricky toss the last of the twitching corpses into burning piles. Luna was crouched down, leaning against the side of the shuttle's lowered ramp, Hidden at her side eyeing her injured leg warrily. Their Ricky was standing off to the side, trying not to look at the smoldering corpses, while simultaneously finding himself unable to peel his eyes off of his eyepatched counterpart.

"This is gonna be a pain to clean off…." Maple lamented through the Reggie-tron's speakers, attempting to wipe off some of the blood from the mecha's metal legs, to no avail.

"I think we'll all need a nice long shower after this." Hidden replied, eyeing his sticky, pine needle covered tail.

Luna stared down at her own blood-stained talons, and winced, the pain in her leg flaring up. She felt herself starting to uncontrollably shiver, despite her whole body feeling unusually hot.

"Let me guess, one of 'em bit you?" Hidden asked, noticing her heavily breathing as she tried to push through the pain. Luna meekly nodded.

"Just a little…." she groaned, barely able to muster enough energy to reply.

The SandWing sighed, watching as the other Ricky stepped over to her. The SkyWing kneeled down, Luna shifting over so he could examine her leg. He carefully unraveled the bandages, Luna wincing as her wound was exposed to the open air.

"So, she's been infected with whatever this zombie virus is?" Hidden asked.

The other Ricky solemnly nodded, wrapping the bandages back around Luna's leg and rising to his feet. "From the looks of it, she's got about a day or so before the Othermind takes her."

"The _Othermind_…?" Luna grunted, leaning back against the side of the shuttle's ramp. "Talk about a messed up timeline…."

"So you're from another world too, aren't you?" the other Ricky asked, garnering surprised looks from the two of them. "Figured as much, what with this big thing here, and that metal dragon you're traveling with."

"Wh...wait. Has someone else already been here...?" Luna wheezed, "I thought this was a non-interference timeline…."

"Not sure what you're talkin' about, but yeah, someone else did come through not too long ago." the other Ricky replied.

"Guess that explains why he wasn't so shocked to see us." Hidden muttered, as Lin and Maple finished with the last of the bodies, striding over to the shuttle, with their Ricky joining soon after.

"So, will we be heading back then?" Lin asked, starting up the shuttle's ramp. "This timeline is obviously too hostile to set down in, and Luna's in no shape to keep moving forward."

"No...too risky…." Luna wheezed, "This virus, it's probably...too unpredictable between timelines…_*huff*_...like magic…."

"Well there's gotta be some kind of cure for it...right, uh...Ricky?" Hidden asked.

The other Ricky paused for a moment, thinking. "That other traveler I told you about, he set up a city. There's a cure there." he explained, "Though it's well over a day's flight away."

Hidden grinned, turning to his brother, who nodded, hopping over into the shuttle's cockpit. Lin stepped down off of the ramp, she and Hidden helping Luna up as the group stepped away from the shuttle, their Ricky briefly igniting its bottom thrusters to lift it into the air for a moment before setting it back down on the ground.

"I think we can make it." Hidden said.

The other Ricky stared at the shuttle in amazement, slowly stepping over to its rear ramp. "How fast can this thing go?" he asked, looking back, a half grin on his face.

"Pretty fast." Hidden replied. He stepped over past the other Ricky, making his way to the other side of the cockpit. "We never really got around to testing it, but I'm sure it could easily make the trip."

"This shuttle can fly across half the continent in an hour!" Ricky shouted, sticking his head out of the cockpit. "I think…."

The other Ricky donned an excited grin upon hearing this, walking up into the shuttle and sticking his head into the cockpit. Lin helped Luna over to the ramp, Maple stepping up with the Reggie-tron to support her other side, the trio entering the shuttle as the ramp closed up behind them.

"So, care to point us in the direction of this cure city?" Hidden asked.

The other Ricky nodded. "Only if you show me what this thing can do!"

Hidden grinned, and their Ricky grabbed the control wheel, flicking a few levers to activate the shuttle's bottom thrusters. The craft rumbled, slowly rising into the air, when a half-rotted SkyWing leapt down from the treetops, landing right on the shuttle's windshield.

"Aw, gross!" Hidden groaned, "Does this thing have any windshield wipers or what?"

His brother shrugged, trying to look away from the growling zombie trying to claw through the glass. "I-It should slide off as we fly away…." he nervously suggested.

The shuttle lifted up through the treetops, the undead SkyWing smearing the windshield as it slowly slid off. The vast surrounding mountains came into view as the shuttle cleared the trees, though Luna couldn't see most of it from her spot lying against the wall.  
"Kinda like Twice Dead, isn't it?" Hidden asked, staring out at the landscape spread out before him.

"Come on, you know I didn't like that movie!" Ricky replied, "And besides, I don't remember them having a spaceship in it…."

"Yeah...talk about an unfair advantage, huh?" Hidden said, scratching the frills on the back of his head. "Anyhoo, where to Ricky two?"

The other Ricky paused to look at Hidden for a moment, before pointing out through the windshield. "We'll want to go southwest from here. Over the desert."

Their Ricky nodded, and pushed forward on the steering wheel, the shuttle rocketing ahead. The other Ricky had to brace himself against the doorway of the cockpit for a moment, watching the world fly by with an excited grin plastered on his face.

Luna shifted, trying her best to control her shivering. Her condition certainly hadn't gotten any better, and she was starting to feel a slight tingling in her claws. She still hadn't decided what was worse, turning into a mind-controlled drone, or a dragon-eating rage zombie.

"Three moons, there's no end to them!" Hidden exclaimed, staring out of the windshield at the world below. "How many zombies are there out there?!"

The other Ricky shrugged. "Recently it seems that for every one of the buggers you burn, two more pop up in its place."

The scarred SkyWing turned to his counterpart, staring at him for a moment. "So, you're supposed to be me from another world, are ya?" he finally asked.

"Y-Yeah…?" their Ricky nervously replied, turning away from the controls as he switched on the autopilot.

There was a brief pause, Luna wondering what the other Ricky was gonna do, when the eyepatched dragon finally spoke up.

"You...think you could show me how you pilot this thing?" he asked, nodding to the control panel in front of them. Their Ricky stared at the other Ricky for a moment, not sure how to respond, his brother giving him an encouraging grin.

"A-Alright…." he replied, turning back to the controls. "Well, you see, this here is the steering wheel, though, it's not much of a wheel really…."

Luna laid her head on the floor of the shuttle, taking deep breaths as pain throbbed throughout her body. Soon enough they'd arrive at their destination, wherever that was. She was pretty curious as to who this previous timeline traveler was, though she didn't have the energy to ask the other Ricky, and he seemed preoccupied at the moment anyway. She'd likely find out soon enough.

Knowing the multiverse, it could be anybody.

It was a little more than an hour before the shuttle began its descent, though it felt like five for Luna. She let out a long sigh of relief when the shuttle slightly jerked, its landing gear crunching down on the ground below. Ricky was still explaining the shuttle's controls to the other Ricky, the two so deeply engrossed in their conversation, Luna wondered if they even realized that they'd landed. Hidden sat beside them, silently messing with his twin-screened gaming device.

Lin got up and pulled the lever on the back wall, lowering the shuttle's ramp, as Maple helped Luna to her feet. The trio made their way down the shuttle's ramp, Luna gazing about groggily at the surrounding terrain, her peripheral vision having slightly blurred over the course of the trip.

The ground was brown and rocky, with sparse plant life scattered about. Small patches of grass dotted the terrain, spread between clusters of dark-leaved trees and rough crags. The sun shone bright directly overhead, casting a blinding glare on Luna's vision.

"Wha...hey! We're in the...the old Night Kingdom…." Luna yawned, recognizing the terrain in the back of her mind. "Why're we here…?"

"Does she seem a bit..._off_...to you?" Maple asked.

Lin sighed. "It's probably the virus messing with her head."

"Hey! Who're you callin' _off_…." Luna replied.

She tried to shake off Lin and Maple, teetering forward a few paces before nearly falling to the ground, the two quickly grabbing her again before she hit the ground. The world spun about her, completely throwing off her balance.

As she struggled to regain focus, the Othermind slowly filling her head with a thick mental fog, her eyes fell upon a massive structure in the distance. She squinted, realizing that it wasn't one structure, but numerous smaller ones, clustered together on a wide, flat plateau at the center of a massive circular ravine.

Even in her off-kilter state, Luna could clearly tell that there was nothing normal about the city. The light grey stone buildings were so pristine and polished, they practically glowed in the sunlight. The vast circular chasm surrounding the city formed a near perfect circle, its sides eerily smooth. At the center of the city stood a massive stone tower, twisting spirals of granite and marble seemingly having grown up from the ground towards the sky. The top of it seemed to be emitting some sort of semi-translucent shield, draping over the city like a massive umbrella.

Luna felt a sick feeling start bubbling up in her stomach, though she wasn't sure if it was from the city, or the Othermind slowly clawing through her.

"That's some pretty impressive stuff right there. Ya mind if I give this thing a spin sometime?" the other Ricky asked, hopping out of the side door of the shuttle's cockpit behind their Ricky.

"Uh, I guess...if that'd make you happy."

The other Ricky grinned, abruptly wrapping a foreleg around their Ricky's neck. "Thank's Rick! You're real cool, you know that? Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!" he said, pointing a talon at their Ricky, who sheepishly grinned in response.

Hidden stepped around from the other side of the cockpit, staring out at the domed city in the distance. "So that's the city with the cure?" he asked, turning to the two Rickys. The eyepatched SkyWing nodded, and Hidden turned his focus toward a wide stone bridge crossing the chasm, setting off towards it without a second thought.

"Come on guys! We don't have all day!" he shouted back, already halfway to the bridge.

"Technically, we do." Maple quietly replied, she and Lin helping Luna forward after the SandWing.

The three of them soon made it to the bridge, Hidden waiting for them between two towering stone statues of NightWings in regal poses. The SandWing briefly looked over the edge of the bridge, immediately recoiling as he pinched his snout.

"It's like a sea of corpses down there!" he shouted, as Luna heard talon steps approaching them from behind. She slowly turned her head to see the two Rickys stepping up to the bridge, the eyepatched one staring at the forcefield warrily.

"Is there something you need to tell us?" Lin asked the other Ricky, noticing his troubled stare.

"Well uh, ya see, that forcefield there kills the Othermind...but uh...well it's a one way trip." the other Ricky explained.

"And you couldn't have told us this earlier?"

The other Ricky chuckled, casting a sideways glance back at the shuttle. "It...kinda slipped my mind…."

Lin sighed, Hidden turning to the city, and then back to the group. "We don't have much of a choice, we don't want Luna turning into a mindless zombie after all." he stated.

"That'd be...preferable…." Luna grunted, a wave of fatigue washing over her.

"So, what's the plan then?" Maple asked, leaning the Reggie-tron against the low wall that ran along the side of the bridge.

Hidden thought for a moment, turning to the other Ricky. "I'm guessing you don't want to go in there with us, do you?" he asked.

"My place is out here." the other Ricky replied, "I ain't afraid of no plant."

"Alright then!" Hidden said, slapping his foretalons together. "In that case, the two Rickys can stay back at the shuttle, while the rest of us head into the city to cure Luna. We don't know what we're getting into here, so we'll need all claws on deck."

"I'd say it's nothing good." Lin stated, "Considering we're entering what is supposedly an inescapable city."

"We'll see about that…." Hidden said with an excited grin. He turned back to the two Rickys, stepping over to bump wings with his brother.

"You two gonna be alright out there?" he asked.

"Don't you worry 'bout us!" the other Ricky replied enthusiastically, wrapping a foreleg around their Ricky. "I can handle those walkers. Plus, we've got that crazy rainbow canon thing, don't we?"

"You mean the dubstep canon?" their Ricky wheezed under the other Ricky's strong grasp.

"Yeah, that! Anyhow, you and your friends stay safe in there, okay brother!" the other Ricky continued.

"Brother…?" Hidden asked.

The other Ricky grinned. "Any brother of this guy is a brother of mine!" he said, letting go of their Ricky and turning back towards the shuttle. Their Ricky briefly paused to catch his breath, and gave one last wave to Hidden, before heading off after his scarred counterpart.

"Oh, and say hi to Krill for me!" the other Ricky shouted, as Lin and Maple started dragging Luna towards the forcefield. The SilkWing had grown so exhausted that she couldn't stand up on her own, her symptoms escalating so quickly, she wondered if the time limit was really as long as the other Ricky had said it was.

"Almost there Luna, just a little bit further…." Lin muttered, casting a worried glance down at the SilkWing.

Luna could hardly keep her eyes open as her head pushed through the barrier, a cool wave of relief spreading across her body. The fog filling her mind began to clear, the blurriness of her peripheral vision subsiding as her energy started to come back a bit. She still felt exhausted, though, and her leg still hurt like crazy.

"You alright Luna?" Maple asked, as the SilkWing pulled out of her and Lin's grasp, struggling to stand on her own four legs.

"Y-Yeah, I think so…." she replied, slowly regaining her balance as she turned around to face the group.

Hidden turned back to the forcefield, tapping one of his foretalons against the inside of it, sending light ripples across its surface. "Seems pretty solid, that other Ricky wasn't lying." he said disappointedly.

"Well, perhaps the one who built this city is still here?" Lin asked, turning to stare down the straight road leading deeper into the city, "If so, then we might be able to ask them to let us out."

"Here's hoping." Hidden replied, already setting off down the street. Maple followed after him, Lin turning to Luna and silently offering to help her along. The SilkWing shook her head, slowly walking along behind the EarthWing as the aftereffects of the infection gradually dwindled away.

The city was quite impressive, Luna had to admit. The streets were incredibly clean, the stones paving them looking freshly cut. The buildings were even more dazzling up close, tiny quartz crystals mixed in the bricks reflecting the sunlight in a dazzling display. Dragons off all the common species (with the not-so-surprising exclusion of HiveWings) milled about here and there, casting the newcomers curious glances, but otherwise leaving them alone.

"Hey, Hidden? Something wrong?" Luna asked, noticing the SandWing carefully examining the townsfolk they passed by, and attracting a few confused stares in return.

"Uh, nothing, I think…." he replied, "Something doesn't seem quite right about this place, but nobody's acting especially weird or anything."

"I'm surprised you haven't noticed the IceWing guards all over the place." Lin commented. Luna glanced around, and sure enough, every single IceWing she saw was standing at attention, adorned in a set of shiny silver armor.

The group eventually arrived at a wide circular road, wrapping around the fortress that stood at the base of the tower. Luna could see IceWings all about the massive structure, guarding heavy metal doorways and standing atop wide watchtowers. Something about the way they stood so stoically, as if their job was all that mattered in the world, really rubbed Luna the wrong way.

"Well, we meet again!" a voice boomed, the sound of heavy wingbeats echoing from overhead.

Luna froze, instantly recognizing whose voice it was. The group slowly looked up to see a massive black dragon descending from the top of the central tower, his sweeping star-speckled wings blocking out the sun and casting a dark shadow over the group.

The black dragon landed in front of them with a resounding thud, the ground rumbling beneath him. Nearby townsfolk began to gather, watching curiously at a distance. The NightWing grinned, a twisting silver crown atop his head, and six teardrop scales running from the back of each of his eyes across the sides of his face.

_Thanks multiverse…._ Luna thought, her talons clenching into fists. _Of all the dragons, it just _HAD _to be another Darkstalker!_

* * *

**AN:**

**So yeah, bet you weren't expecting **_**him**_** to come back in this episode.**

**I'd say this is a pretty solid chapter, though as usual, I'm sure my writing could still use a lot of improvement. Hopefully you guys liked Apocalypse Ricky!**

**What will the team do now that this Darkstalker is back? Will they be able to escape his inescapable city? Stay tuned!**


	42. Chapter 42: Trapped

**Review Responses:**

**aRandomSunwing - I've actually got something even funnier in mind!**

**spyrostar3 - I'm glad it wasn't cringy in a cringy way!**

* * *

**Chapter 42: Trapped**

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**The Domed City**

**Early Afternoon**

"I'd hoped we'd meet again, our last encounter did end rather...abruptly, didn't it?" Darkstalker mused, his lithe form towering above the city streets. "I must say that I'm quite pleased with the way things have turned out, seeing you here in my city."

"You know this Darkstalker too?" Luna whispered to Hidden, eyeing the titanic NightWing standing before them.

Hidden nervously chuckled. "We passed through his timeline a little while back, and we _might_ have bumped him into one of those no-go timelines you told us about…." he whispered back. Luna shuddered, the thought of being sent to one of those horrible places chilling her to the bone.

"Let's see, there's the SandWing, the 'EarthWing', and I believe one of those pesky scavengers is in that metal dragon there." Darkstalker said, pointing to each of them in turn. Luna noticed Hidden tense up when he called Maple a "scavenger".

"You're a new one though, aren't you?" Darkstalker asked, pointing to Luna. The SilkWing froze, seeing a frown spread across the NightWing's face. "Ah, so you're the one who told them about that horrid place." he continued.

Luna quickly focused on a wall of burning flames, a basic technique for blocking out mind readers. Darkstalker grinned, clearly having sensed her mental block.

_He's the real deal, that's for sure. _Luna thought, remembering the unusual, non-magical Darkstalker from back on the Salvation. _If only I had some skyfire like Hidden…._

"Something seems different about you…." Hidden began. Darkstalker grinned, turning his attention to the SandWing.

"Well, I suppose you could say that the strength of _six_ Darkstalkers rests within me now." he replied, his numerous teardrop scales glistening in the sunlight.

The NightWing glanced around at the gathering crowd of onlookers, now having grown to a couple dozen dragons. "Perhaps we should take this somewhere more...private." he suggested, reaching for a silver bracelet on his left foreleg. He tapped a smooth blue stone inlaid into the shiny metal, and in an instant, the city disappeared, replaced by a large stone chamber.

Ornate columns ran along the sides of a wide red carpet, leading up to a massive obsidian throne. Sunlight gleamed in through bright stained glass windows, depicting various scenes of dragons battling Othermind infected zombies. A solid gold chandelier hung above the group, its candles flickering as it floated in midair.

"You like it?" Darkstalker asked, slithering up to his throne and plopping himself down upon it, staring down at the group with his head resting on one of his talons. "I'll admit that for a throne room, it's rather...basic. Though I think the windows were a nice touch."

The NightWing shifted around on his throne, a victorious grin on his face. "I must thank you for walking right into my city, though I guess it wouldn't have been much trouble just to teleport you here the moment you arrived in this world." he stated, "Speaking of which, there appears to be one more of you who hasn't come in yet."

Luna noticed a wave of terror instantly sweep across Hidden's face, as the NightWing pulled a small pebble out of a pouch tied around his right foreleg, muttering something to it. He tossed it to the floor in front of the group, the pebble disappearing the instant it touched the ground, in its place standing a familiar, red scaled SkyWing.

"Wh-What the...w-where am I?! What's happening?!" Ricky yelped, whipping his head around in terror and confusion. He quickly spotted his brother, nearly the same amount of fear on the SandWing's face, and darted over to him, standing beneath his outstretched wing as he fearfully looked up at the towering NightWing before them.

"I-Is th-that…." Ricky sputtered.

"Yep." Hidden replied, turning to his brother, "You alright bro?"

"I-I think so." Ricky replied.

"Now then, it seems you all are here." Darkstalker began, clapping his foretalons together. "That is, all of you who came to this world. It seems there's a few still hiding away on that ship of yours, including that pathetic imposter."

"What do you want with us?" Lin growled, standing tall despite Darkstalker's imposing presence.

"Oh, nothing at all, really." Darkstalker replied, "You're already here, and there's no way for you to escape now and cause me any further troubles." He chuckled, staring at one of the stained glass windows, depicting dragons flocking into the domed city, Darkstalker standing above them all with his arms outstretched across the city's barrier in a protective gesture. "I'll admit that I was a little skeptical about the futures I saw of you all walking in here of your own accord, considering what happened last time." he continued, "But, it all worked out in the end, didn't it?"

"Can't we just portal out of here?" Hidden asked, briefly glancing at Luna's slipdrive.

Darkstalker let out a loud, bombastic laugh, causing the whole chamber to shake. "You think I hadn't thought of that?!" he said, wiping tears from his eyes. "Nobody can open _any_ sort of inter-timeline gateways in here. Even if your friends came with their big golden ship, they'd only get trapped beneath my protective shield, just as you are now."

He paused, taking a moment to regain his composure. "You should be relieved, though, because now you can live out the rest of your lives in the safety of this wonderful city of mine. I'm sure you know that I could do _much_ worse to you if I wanted." he continued, "But, your cooperation has me in a good mood, and besides, everyone deserves a second chance, don't they?"

_Yeah, a second chance to wipe out the IceWings._ Luna thought, anxiously glancing at the rigid IceWing guards standing at attention near the entrances to the chamber. Darkstalker briefly turned toward her, frowning, before turning back to the group as a whole.

"So, are you gonna enchant us? Brainwash us like you did all those townsfolk?" Hidden asked, taking a warry step back.

"Oh no! I never enchanted any of the townsfolk, I assure you!" Darkstalker replied, the group staring at him skeptically.

"Look." Darkstalker continued, "All I had to do was provide a safe haven from the Othermind, and dragons would flock to me! And it was entirely their choice to come in here, knowing they could never leave."

"Well it doesn't seem like everyone fell for your little scheme." Luna commented, remembering the other Ricky, who was likely still sitting with the shuttle outside the barrier.

"That was their decision, and they have to live with it." Darkstalker replied coldly.

Suddenly, a small device around Darkstalker's ear let out a soft beep, Luna recognizing it as a holographic PDA similar to her's. The NightWing let out an annoyed groan, rubbing a golden ring on his right talon, a black, semi-transparent bubble expanding around him, blocking out any sound from inside. He pressed a button on his PDA, entering a voice only call between himself and some unknown individual.

Luna stared curiously at the holographic display hovering before Darkstalker, attempting to make out the name of the caller, but unable to clearly distinguish anything through the tinted bubble. After a brief conversation, Darkstalker switched off his PDA, rubbing his ring once again to diminish the bubble, and staring down at the group with an annoyed expression on his face.

"While I'd like to continue this little conversation, it appears that I'm needed elsewhere." he grumbled irritably. "Please do make yourselves at home, you won't be going anywhere any time soon."

"Wait, hold on!" Hidden shouted, but before he could continue, the NightWing had already tapped the blue stone, him and the throne room vanishing as the group was teleported back onto wide circular street running around the central fortress. Most of the dragons from before had gone on their way, though those that remained turned to stare at the strange dragons once again.

The group paused, regaining their bearings, and looked up to see the massive NightWing flying up from the fortress, straight towards the top of the dome. He seamlessly passed through the barrier, quickly disappearing through a slipstream the moment he was through.

"Welp." Hidden said, turning to the group, "Now what?"

Nobody spoke up, the hushed murmurings of the watching dragons drifting through the air around them. Luna was at a complete loss, partly debating whether she'd rather have turned into a zombie than be trapped in this prison.

Suddenly, a SeaWing from the surrounding crowd came running up to the group, stopping right in front of Ricky. The SkyWing took a step back, staring down at the SeaWing in confusion.

"R-Ricky…? Is that you?" the SeaWing asked. They seemed to be about as old as Ricky, though oddly small for a dragon their age. Their scales were a pale blue, their turquoise green eyes practically glowing with hopefulness.

"_Yes…?_" Ricky replied, casting a sideways glance toward his brother.

Hidden thought for a moment, before stepping in between the two. "Your name wouldn't be Krill, would it?" he asked. The SeaWing nodded, Hidden donning an amused grin. "Ah, well, this is Ricky, but not the Ricky you're thinking of. It's a...long story."

"Oh...uh, sorry…." Krill replied disappointedly, taking a timid step back as he looked between Ricky and the rest of the group. "But, you know him, don't you?"

Ricky nodded, and a glimmer of hope reappeared on Krill's face. The SeaWing turned towards a side street branching off of the central loop, and then back toward the group.

"You can tell me the whole story back at my place, it's not far." Krill offered, motioning for them to follow, "Besides, you're new here, right? You'll need a place to stay for the time being."

The pale blue SeaWing turned around, making his way toward the side street. He briefly turned back to see if the group was following, Hidden taking a step forward.

"Well, it'd be rude not to take him up on his offer, and it's not like we have any better ideas." he stated, following along behind Krill, the rest of the group trailing after him.

* * *

**The Domed City**

**Krill's Apartment**

**Afternoon**

Krill lived on the second floor of a narrow stone building, wedged between a smithy and a butchery near the edge of the city, the semi-transparent barrier touching down right at the end of the street. On the first floor of the building was a glassware shop owned by the SeaWing, selling a wide variety of beautiful talon-crafted pieces that reflected the sunlight in a dazzling display of colors.

Luna was laying on a raised slab of stone, a few colorful cushions tossed about, staring out of the only window of the small apartment at the twisting tower at the center of the city. She sighed, wondering how they were going to escape Darkstalker's prison. Even with the powerful NightWing gone, his enchantments still stood, and who knew when he'd be back?

Suddenly, a tiny, dark shadow caught her eye, flying out of the top of the tower towards the continent. It quickly disappeared from view, but it was soon followed by a dozen more, surging out of the tower's apex like volcanic rocks spewing out during an eruption.

"Hey, uh, Krill?" she asked, turning back towards the apartment, "What are those things flying out of the top of the tower?"

Krill shrugged. "Not sure, it just does that sometimes." he explained, "The King said it's part of the enchantment creating the force field." Luna frowned, turning back to the tower. Knowing Darkstalkers, that was only half of the truth, if not less so.

The SeaWing grunted, lifting up a large pot filled with stew he'd been simmering for the past hour out from a small indoor cookfire built into the wall of the apartment. He set it down on a low table near the center of the chamber, Hidden and Ricky looking up from their PDAs as drops of the steaming broth sloshed out of the pot. The SeaWing quickly moved to a row of cabinets hung above the cookfire, pulling out a couple stacks of bowls as Lin and Luna stepped over to the table. Maple came over as well, opening the Reggie-tron's chest cavity and hopping down onto the table.

"Oh, uh...I didn't think there was a scavenger in there!" Krill said in surprise as he set a bowl out for each of the dragons, an unsettled look briefly crossing Hidden and Ricky's faces. "I'll see if I have something smaller."

"Don't think I'll ever get used to that…." Hidden muttered, scooping some of the stew into his bowl with a large metal ladle, it's fragrant aroma filling the room.

"It's alright, I'm not that hungry right now anyway." Maple said, Krill turning to her with a surprised look. He stared at the human for a moment, before sitting down at the crowded table with everyone else.

"Wow, you guys really are from another world, aren't you?" he asked, scooping some stew into his bowl. "Sorry I mistook you earlier for the Ricky I know, I should have known better, since you don't have any of his battle scars."

"It's fine, really!" Ricky replied with a friendly grin, "I mean, in a way, I'm just a different version of your Ricky."

Krill sighed, a look of solemn longing in his eyes. "Yeah...I guess I just really hoped that it was him...you know?"

"How'd you come to know this other Ricky anyway?" Hidden asked, taking a sip of his stew, his eyes bulging as the boiling hot liquid touched his mouth. He quickly set his bowl down, forcing himself to swallow before he could spew the hot stew on everyone, his black tongue hanging out as he gasped for air.

"Ahhh...ow...that's...that's really hot…." he wheezed. The group chuckled, and even Lin had a slight smile on her face.

"We first met back around the beginning of the Othermind's spread." Krill explained, as the laughter began to die down. "I was born pretty weak, and I never would have survived out there had Ricky not been there for me."

The pale SeaWing took a sip of his stew, longingly staring at the burning cookfire nearby. Hidden grinned, reaching into the pouch on his foreleg and pulling out a small makeshift device. He pushed a button on its side, a red LED light illuminating as he held it up to his mouth.

"Hey, Ricky! You still there?" he asked into the device, attracting the attention of both his brother and the reminiscing SeaWing.

"Hidden? Doesn't that thing only send morse code?" Ricky asked.

"Not anymore." the SandWing replied.

There was a brief moment of silence, everyone at the table patiently waiting for a response, when a light static buzzed through the device's speakers.

"Hidden?! Wha-Where are you?!" the voice of the other Ricky asked.

"R-Ricky?! Is that you?!" Krill shouted, leaping from his seat and rushing over next to Hidden, a look of pure elation on his face.

"Krill?!" the other Ricky replied.

"Yes! It's me!" Krill exclaimed excitedly, tears welling up in his eyes, "I...I can't believe it's actually you! It's been…_*sniff*_...so long! Are you alright?"

"Yeah...I think so…." the other Ricky replied, "You doin' good in there pal?"

Krill nodded, despite the other Ricky being unable to see him. "Yeah, things are great here! I'm with these dragons from another world right now! Though, I'm sure you already know that…."

"Oh, yeah...uh...Hidden?" the other Ricky began, "I uh...I think your Ricky got turned into a pebble…."

A brief silence fell over the group, Hidden and Ricky turning to each other in confusion. "Uh, no...I'm here with them." Ricky explained, "Darkstalker must have swapped me and the pebble's places."

"Oh, yeah, and thanks for telling us that _Darkstalker _runs this place!" Luna butted in, talons clenched.

"I...didn't think that was important…." the other Ricky replied, Luna letting out a frustrated snort. She felt half ready to strangle the eyepatched SkyWing with her flamesilk, were they not separated by an impenetrable barrier.

"So uh, you want me to bring the shuttle in there…somehow?" the other Ricky continued.

"No! No...just, wait there." Hidden quickly replied, "The shuttle's much more useful out there than it is in here."

"But how're you gonna get out of there?" the other Ricky asked.

Hidden paused, turning to the window, the tower looming off in the distance. "We'll think of something…." he said, an excited twinkle in his eye.

* * *

**AN:**

**[Please Read]**

**I was hoping on using this thanksgiving break to get through all the rest of the chapters of this episode, but currently I've only gotten a page into the next chapter, with the rest of it roughly laid out. Got stuck on dialogue again, as usual. Despite my writing having likely improved over the course of this story, I still often loose confidence in it, and worry that my chapters don't have consistent characterization or decent, non-repetitive dialogue, or have various plot holes because I forgot to establish something in a previous chapter. Again, thinking about this as a rough draft that I'll rewrite in the future can help with this, but it still bugs me to continue writing knowing that this version of the story isn't the best that it can be, and that it is likely rushed. Part of me wants to start over here and now, but I'm so close to the finale, which in itself has many things I'm uncertain about and want to get feedback on, that getting back here could easily take a year. I just don't know what I should do, should I tone down the release schedule, or just keep going to the end and then get a bunch of feedback and start fresh from there. I still want this story to be a bit of an experience, and for people to be able to go in blind, too. I'm just so conflicted.**

**Anyway, this chapter was proofread yesterday, and there might be some minor things wrong with it. I'd love to hear any helpful criticism that could help me in the coming chapters. I'm already worried that the way they escape the city will be too convenient and easy, but I want this episode to be wrapped up in the next two chapters so I can start working towards the finale. Any constructive criticism at all will be helpful, as well as suggestions for how I could fix these issues. I really want this story to be the best it can, despite the somewhat rushed release schedule.**

**How will Luna and the others escape Darkstalker's domed city? Will they escape before the animus NightWing returns? Stay tuned!**


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